Empirical evidence
There is empirical evidence (also empirical evidence ) if the hypothesis made is supported by collected data or experience. To prove the hypothesis, statistical methods in the form of statistical tests are often used to check whether the result of a statistical test is statistically significant . The term comes from the Greek word for experience, ἐμπειρία (empeiría).
According to Immanuel Kant , it is customary in philosophy to designate the knowledge gained as a posteriori knowledge (as opposed to a priori knowledge).
meaning
Empirical evidence is information that verifies the truth (which corresponds exactly to reality) or the falsehood (inaccuracy) of a claim. From an empirical point of view, one can claim to have knowledge only if it is based on empirical evidence (although some empiricists believe that there are other ways to obtain knowledge). This is in contrast to the rationalist view, which sees reason or reflection alone as evidence of the truth or falsity of some sentences. Empirical evidence is information obtained through observation or experimentation in the form of recorded data that may be the subject of analysis (e.g. by scientists). This is the main source of empirical evidence. Describe, discuss, interpret, comment on, analyze, evaluate, summarize and process secondary sources. Secondary source material can include articles in newspapers or popular magazines, book or movie reviews, or articles in specialist journals that discuss or evaluate someone else's original research.
In science , empirical evidence is required for a hypothesis to find acceptance in the scientific community . Typically, this validation is achieved through the scientific method of hypothesis formation , experimental design, peer review, reproduction of results, conference presentation, and publication in a journal. This requires rigorous communication of hypotheses (usually expressed in mathematics ), experimental constraints and controls (which are necessarily expressed in terms of standard experimental apparatus), and a common understanding of the measurement .
Statements and arguments that depend on empirical evidence are often referred to as a posteriori ("following experience"), in contrast to a priori (before). A priori knowledge or justification is independent of experience (for example, "All bachelors are unmarried"), while a priori knowledge or justifications are dependent on experience or empirical evidence (for example, "Some bachelors are very lucky"). The idea that the distinction between a posteriori and a priori is synonymous with the distinction between empirical and non-empirical knowledge comes from Kant's Critique of Pure Reason .
The standard positivist view of empirically derived information has been that observation, experience, and experiment serve as neutral arbiters between competing theories. However, since the 1960s, an ongoing criticism most associated with Thomas S. Kuhn has argued that these methods are influenced by previous beliefs and experiences. Consequently, when two scientists observe, experience, or experiment the same event, it cannot be expected that they will make the same theoretically neutral observations. The role of observation as theoretically neutral referee may not be possible. The theoretical dependence of observation means that even if there were agreed methods of inference and interpretation, scientists may still not agree on the nature of the empirical data.
See also
literature
- Alexander Bird: Thomas Kuhn . 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2012. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Section 4.2 Perception, Observational Incommensurability, and World-Change.
- Craig, Edward (2005). "a posteriori". The Shorter Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Routledge. ISBN 9780415324953 .
- Feldman, Richard (2001) [1999]. "Evidence". In Audi, Robert (ed.). The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, ISBN 978-0-521-63722-0 , pp. 293-294.
- Thomas S. Kuhn : The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, (1970) [1962]. ISBN 978-0226458045 .
- Pickett, Joseph P., ed. (2011). "Empirical". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-547-04101-8 .
- "A Priori and A Posteriori". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.