empirical evidence (2)

Question

Hi, can the list at the following link be considered as "empirical evidence" please? I ask because I am discussing with someone and he claims this is such evidence. I argue it is not because it is data gathered by a third party and so there is no experience within the evidence. Many thanks.

http://bit.ly/1yJrbja

Meteorquake · Accepted Answer

Hello... empirical evidence for what? you'll need to suggest a statement that the data would be empirical evidence for.

By way of a side note, if when 20 people name their children, 3 of them name theirs Muhammad (in this case) and the other 17 name theirs John, Michael, Rupert etc, each getting 1 each, then the minority of 3 will rank top place above the majority of 17 which has been split across 17 names at 1 each; so looking at the top few doesn't really tell you a lot over all, just how certain names are culturally significant to a section of the population, but not whether it's significant over the whole of the population. It may or may not be significant, but the data provided won't tell you this

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Anonymous · Answer

Hi.. and thank you for your reply, I think your 'side note' has probably answered the question about what the evidence is with regard to (im/migration issues). You comment has also, probably, answered the very debate I am involved in so again many thanks.

But to clarify my original question, it's not about the quality or usefulness of the evidence, it's about whether or not it can be considered "empirical". My understanding is that my own experience say, if I gathered evidence myself, first hand, would be "empirical" evidence. However, if I grabbed a set of numbers, data gathered by other unknown sources regardless of its authenticity, then it is not "empirical" evidence. Am I wrong?

Many thanks.

Rowlow · Answer

Hi, I asked this question and have now joined the forum.  I have already replied (anonymous before I joined) so my reply will appear when it's been approved.  Many thanks.

empirical evidence (2)

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