Definition of Empirical Research

Observation: Any part you want to explain can be found through observation. It helps define the area of research.

Hypothesis: The hypothesis is the idea put into words, which helps us figure out what we see.

Experimentation: Hypotheses are tested through experiments to see if they are true. These experiments are different for each research.

Theory: When we create a theory, we do it because we believe it will explain hypotheses of higher probability.

Conclusions: Conclusions are the learnings we derive from our investigation.

Social science methods
There are different methods for social science theoretical research. It consists of polls, documentation, and statistical analysis.

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  Polls: It is a process whereby the researcher uses a topic-specific questionnaire to gather data. No changes are made to the environment or the phenomenon where the polls are conducted to get the most accurate results.
  

QuestionPro live polls is a great way to get live audiences involved and engaged.

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  Documentation: Documentation is a helpful and valuable technique that helps the researcher learn more about the subject. It means visiting libraries or other specialized places, like documentation centers, to look at the existing bibliography.
  

With the documentation, you can find out what came before the investigated topic and what other investigations have found. This step is important because it shows whether or not similar investigations have been done before and what the results were.

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  Statistic analysis: Statistics is a branch of math that looks at random events and differences. It follows the rules that are established by probability. It’s used a lot in sociology and language research. 
  

Examples of theoretical research
We talked about theoretical research methods in the previous part. We’ll give you some examples to help you understand it better.
Example 1: Theoretical research into the health benefits of hemp
The plant’s active principles are extracted and evaluated, and by studying their components, it is possible to determine what they contain and whether they can potentially serve as a medication.
Example 2: Linguistics research
Investigate to determine how many people in the Basque Country speak Basque. Surveys can be used to determine the number of native Basque speakers and those who speak Basque as a second language.
Example 3: Philosophical research
Research politics and ethics as they are presented in the writings of Hanna Arendt from a theoretical perspective.