adj · academic
empirical
/ɛmˈpɪrɪkəl/em·PIR·i·cal
Band 7+task2task1speaking
based on observation or experiment rather than theory
Examples
“The authors present empirical evidence to support their hypothesis.”
“Empirical studies show a positive correlation between study time and exam scores.”
“We need empirical data before drawing firm conclusions.”
Band 8 sentence
“Empirical analysis of multiple datasets indicates that socioeconomic background significantly affects educational attainment.”
Collocations
- empirical evidence/data
- empirical research/study
Word family
empirical adjempirically advempiricism n
Common mistakes
using 'experimental' whenever you mean 'empirical'→empirical
Say it for a higher band
5based on evidence→6experimental→7+empirical
Synonyms
observational
experimental
Easily confused
theoretical
“The theoretical framework suggests several hypotheses.”
Related words
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In Sublist 9
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