PSY 223 Developmental Psychology

An empirical study can be found in research papers or books. It is a study that is based on observable evidence. How the study is measured can be either quantitative or qualitative in nature.

How to Tell if a Paper is an Empirical Study

• Peer-reviewed - empirical studies are peer-reviewed. This means other scholars in the same field reviewed it before it was published to ensure that it meats academic standards.  
• Methodology - A paper that is an empirical study should have a section that discusses how the researchers gathered and measured their data.
• Population - There should be a clearly defined population of the study. What are limits of what is being studied? What is in scope of the research and what isn't?
• Results/Findings - Near the end of the paper there should be a section that discusses the results of the study.

Library Catalogue

When searching for books or articles in our library catalogue, filtering the results by methodology is not an option. This means there is no simple way to find a list of empirical studies in our catalogue. It would be best to use the databases we have on EBSCO.

If you do choose to search for empirical sources in the catalogue, be sure to filter the results by "peer-reviewed" to find academic sources. Read the abstract to see if they discus the methodology of their research.

EBSCO Databases

EBSCO has a built-in filter that allows the user to narrow the search results down by the methodology that was used in the study. After searching for your topic, on the left side of the page, select the "Methodology" dropdown menu. Under this tab you will see a list of different methodologies you can filter the results by. This is includes options such as "empirical study," "qualitative study," "quantitative "study." Select the options that are most relevant to your research.