Empirical Research
An empirical research article reports research based on actual data.
The research can be quantitative or qualitative
- Quantitative: uses numerical data to establish a relationship between two or more variables.
- Qualitative: objectively and critically examine behaviors, beliefs, feelings, with few or no numerical data for analysis.
Look for articles structured in that way--they will be experimental/empirical articles
- Abstract
- The author summarizes the article
- Introduction
- The author discusses the general background of the research topic; there is a literature review (a summary of what other experts have written on this topic)
- Methods
- The author describes how the experiment was designed and conducted
- Results
- The author presents the data that was collected during the experiment
- Discussion
- The author offers ideas about the importance and implications of the findings and speculates on future directions that similar research might take
- Literature Cited
- The author provides a list of sources used in the article
Literature Review
- A literature review survey information that is relevant to a person's research thesis/problem and/or a particular issue or theory.
- It provides a critical analysis that summarizes and synthesizes the source materials while also demonstrating how a person's research pertains to or fits within the larger discipline of study.
Survey Research
- The purpose of a survey research is to collect direct information by asking questions to participants in a research
- A survey can be anything: multiple choices to an in-depth interview
- Depending on the research question the research must consider what type of questions to ask, how to word the questions, and the type of instrument to deliver the survey
- Survey research use a qualitative approach
Intervention Research
- The purpose of intervention research is to test the efficacy of a specific treatment by dividing a sample into two groups and assign the groups different treatments
- How much and how many questions are used in the research. For example, how much change was associated with the intervention.
- Intervention research use controlled clinical trials (subjects are assigned to a group). Controlled clinical trials are done randomly with large sample size.
- The researcher changes the intensity, dose, or frequency of the procedure (like an exercise) to determine the minimal amount that it is needed to achieve health outcomes/goals
- Quantitative methods are used to assess the degree to which the delivery of an intervention follow protocols and procedures, and how they were empirically tested
