Sociology Plus
Definition of Empirical Statement
Without passing any judgments about what they represent, empirical statements describe the current situation of the social environment. They are claims that are experimentally tested. These assertions provide details about the world our senses allow us to perceive.
Sociological Explanation
An assumption based on empirical facts has been carefully and methodically gathered via observation. Statement Data used to prove or reject theories supports empirical assertions.
Sociologists use empirical statements that have undergone extensive statistical analysis to explain society and social behavior. An empirically based discipline, sociology uses data collection and analysis to evaluate theories about the social environment.
The main difference between normative and empirical statements is that empirical ones are entirely informational and full of facts, but normative statements are judgemental. Facts that are either qualitative or quantitative are considered empirical information.
Example
An empirical assertion on the murder rate in Washington can be independently verified, such as the number of murders that occurred in a particular location during a specific time frame.