Education Research Guide

What is an empirical article?
An empirical research article is an article which reports original research based on actual observations and experiments.  

What is a theoretical article?
A theoretical article is an article that uses existing research to present a new theory or advance an existing theory. Does not report on original research, but uses existing research.

How can I tell if I found an empirical article?

• Is the article published in an academic journal?
• Does the abstract of the article mention a study, an observation, and analysis or a number of participants or subjects? Was data collected survey or questionnaire administered, an assessment or measurement used, an interview conducted?
• Empirical articles may contain: an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, and references.

Characteristics of an Empirical Article:

• Empirical articles will include charts, graphs, or statistical analysis.
• Empirical research articles are usually substantial, maybe from 8-30 pages long.
• There is always a bibliography found at the end of the article.

Type of publications that publish empirical studies:

• Empirical research articles are published in scholarly or academic journals
• These journals are also called “peer-reviewed,” or “refereed” publications.