As a research paradigm, empirical research originated from Bacon's empirical philosophy and Newton-Galileo's natural science research. The basic principles advocated by positivism are objectivity and universality of scientific conclusions. It emphasizes that knowledge must be based on the empirical facts of observation and experiment, and the general conclusion can be revealed by means of empirical observation data and experimental research, and requires that this conclusion can be proved under the same conditions. According to the above principles, the empirical research method can be summarized as a research method to obtain objective materials and summarize the essential attributes and development laws of things from individual to general through a large number of observations, experiments and investigations on the research objects.

Empirical research methods include observation, conversation, testing, case study and experiment.

(1) observation method: the researcher directly observes the behavior of others and records the observation results in chronological order. This research method is called observation.

(natural observation and laboratory observation; Participatory observation and non-participatory observation)

(2) Conversation: It is a way for researchers to understand the psychological state of the object through face-to-face conversation with the object in the process of oral information exchange.

There are two kinds of organized and unorganized dialogues. It should be noted that: first, the goal is clear. The second is to pay attention to the way. The third is to pay attention to the use of "home advantage." The fourth is to be as concise as possible. )

(3) Test method: refers to the method of testing the subjects through various standardized psychometric scales to evaluate and understand their psychological characteristics. (Questionnaire test, operation test and projection test)

(4) Case method: a person, a group or an organization is investigated, understood and collected for a long time, so as to study the whole process of their psychological development and change. This method is called case study.

(5) Experimental method: The method that researchers give certain stimuli to the subjects purposefully under closely controlled environmental conditions to trigger a certain psychological reaction and conduct research is called experimental method. (Laboratory experiment and field experiment)

Theoretical research method is the general name of methods that reflect the objective laws of things in the form of knowledge with theoretical thinking level, based on the existing objective reality materials and ideological and theoretical materials, through various logical and illogical processing.

Descriptive research is the most basic step in the process of revealing causality. It can be said that the determination of any causal relationship begins with descriptive research.