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PHPB 7160 - Issue Paper

What is an empirical study?

  • An empirical (or primary) study is a research study that provides original data in an experimental scientific context (as opposed to other types of papers you see in academic publications, like literature reviews or professional commentaries).
     
  • Researchers may use data gathered directly from individual participants or from surveys (e.g. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) to produce new findings and analysis.
     

View a short video about empirical studies and how they differ from others at the link below:

 

Reading the Methods Section of a Paper

The Methods section of a paper can tell you what type of paper you're reading - is it an empirical study with original data, or is it a review of other papers? Here are two examples to show the difference: 

This clinical trial shows a methodology that includes recruiting participants within a particular demographic, assigning study groups and applying different experimental conditions to each, and collecting data from these groups to reach a conclusion:

 

This systematic review, in contrast, shows a methodology that includes searching databases for particular terms, in order to find previous scientific papers according to given criteria: