Skip to Main Content
About Us
Mission Policies Hours Directory Study Spaces
Services
Interlibrary Loan Library Instruction Request Faculty Course Reserves Liaisons Purchase Suggestions Open Educational Resources (OER) Accessibility
Research
Database A-Z Books Browse Journals Streaming Special Collections & Archives Open Access (OA)
Get Help
Ask-A-Librarian Frequently Asked Questions Citation Help Research Consultation Research Guides Tutorials & Videos

Empirical Research Articles

What is an empirical research article? 

An empirical research article reports the results of a study that uses data derived from actual observation or experimentation.

How to recognize an empirical research article.
  • The article is published in a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal.
  • The article abstract mentions a study, observation, # of participants/subjects, analysis.
  • The article has charts, graphs or statistical analysis.
  • The article is likely to be more than 5 pages long.
  • The article contains the sections below (exact terms may vary).
Empirical research articles typically have the following sections.
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • References/Bibliography
The following methodologies are examples of empirical research.
  • Empirical study
  • Quantitative study
  • Qualitative study
  • Clinical study
  • Longitudinal study

 

 

 

Empirical Articles: what the heck are they?

SUNY Genesee Library (8:13 min)