Editing Empirical research (section)

==Empirical cycle==
[[Image:Empirical Cycle.svg|thumb|250px|Empirical cycle according to A.D. de Groot]]
[[Adriaan de Groot|A.D. de Groot]]'s empirical cycle:<ref name="Heitink-1999">Heitink, G. (1999). ''Practical Theology: History, Theory, Action Domains: Manual for Practical Theology.'' Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, p. 233. {{ISBN|9780802842947}}</ref>
# [[Observation]]: The observation of a phenomenon and inquiry concerning its causes.
# [[Inductive reasoning|Induction]]: The formulation of hypotheses - generalized explanations for the phenomenon.
# [[Deductive reasoning|Deduction]]: The formulation of experiments that will test the hypotheses (i.e. confirm them if true, refute them if false). 
# [[Experiment|Testing]]: The procedures by which the hypotheses are tested and data are collected.
# [[Evaluation]]: The interpretation of the data and the formulation of a theory - an [[Abductive reasoning|abductive]] argument that presents the results of the experiment as the most reasonable explanation for the phenomenon.