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Empirical research is a method of collecting data about a phenomenon
Differences between empirical and theoretical research
Literally "empirical" means "obtained empirically", that is, an empirical study is the collection of specific data obtained during the study of the object. Thus, in the empirical study, the direct contact of the researcher with the object under study occurs. Theoretical research occurs, roughly speaking, at the mental level. As the main methods of research, empirical cognition uses experiment and observation of real objects (direct impact or observation of the phenomena studied). Empirical research is, first of all, the maximum exclusion of the influence of subjective components on the result of cognition. Theoretical cognition in this respect is characterized by greater subjectivity, by operating with ideal images and objects.
The empirical scientific research includes methods of study (observation and experiments); The results obtained through these methods (actual data); Various procedures for translating the results ("raw data") into regularities, dependencies, facts. Thus, empirical research is not just an experiment; This is a complex cognitive process in the course of which scientific hypotheses are confirmed or disproved, new patterns are revealed, and so on.
Stages of empirical research
Empirical research, like any other method of scientific knowledge, consists of several steps, each of which is important for obtaining objective data. We list the main stages of the empirical study. After the goal was set, the research tasks are formulated, the hypothesis is put forward, the researcher goes directly to the process of obtaining facts. This is the first stage of the empirical study, when the data of observation or experiment are fixed in the process of work. At this stage, the results are strictly evaluated; The experimenter tries to make the data as objective as possible, clearing them of side effects.
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