Empirical Method - According To Oxford English Dictionary

According To Oxford English Dictionary

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd Edition, 1989), empiric is derived from the ancient Greek for experience, ἐμπειρία, which is ultimately derived from ἐν "in" + πείρα "trial, experiment". Therefore, empirical data is information that is derived from the trials and errors of experience. In this way, the empirical method is similar to the experimental method. However, an essential difference is that in an experiment the different "trials" are strictly manipulated so that an inference can be made as to causation of the observed change that results. This contrasts with the empirical method of aggregating naturally occurring data.

Adding further confusion is another connotation of empiric. Strict empiricists are those who derive their rules of practice entirely from experience, to the exclusion of philosophical theory.

The OED further states that an empiric is "one who, either in medicine or in other branches of science, relies solely upon observation and experiment" . In this case, an empiricist can be someone who conducts an experiment but without using a hypothesis to guide the process, i.e., strictly by the trial-and-error method. This is counter to one of the main tenets of the scientific method, that of the hypothetico-deductive method, where the manipulation of the variable in an experiment is dictated by the hypothesis being tested.