Education Studies Research

You may choose to include empirical articles in your research analysis. Empirical research articles are based on the author's direct study or experiments. In an empirical study, researchers will collect qualitative or quantitative data and analyze their results to answer a specific research question. While a literature review or theory paper will summarize or expound upon existing research, empirical research will include original research conducted by the article author(s), and is therefore considered to be primary research. The following resources will help you identify and locate empirical research articles.

Locating Empirical Research 

Most research databases do not have a filter for empirical research. You can narrow your search for empirical articles by including keywords in your search. The resources below will help you to identify and utilize search terms to summon empirical articles.

• Empirical Sources (University of Toronto Mississauga Library)

  This research guide introduces the concept of empirical research by identifying the relevant components of empirical research articles, and provides search terms and learning examples for locating empirical research. While this guide primarily focuses on Psychology, it provides a useful introduction that can be applied to any field.

• Empirical Research in the Social Sciences and Education (PennState Libraries)

  For tips for finding empirical research in the social sciences, education, and psychology, this guide includes relevant search instructions and keywords for databases such as ERIC, PsycInfo, Sociological Abstracts, Linguistics and Language Behaviour Abstracts and more.

Consult the Data and Statistics in Education guide from the OISE Library.