The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "empirical" as:
1. originating in or based on observation or experience empirical data;
2 . relying on experience or observation alone often without due regard for system and theory an empirical basis for the theory; or
3. capable of being verified or disproved by observation or experiment empirical laws.
An empirical study is one in which an experiment, survey, or study is conducted and the results of that experiment, survey, or study are reported. An empirical study journal article is one that details the study by describing it in detail: what was studied, why it was studied, how it was studied (survey, experiment, et c.), the results of the study, and a discussion of those results. The reporting of empirical studies in scholarly journals almost always follows the same structure: IMRAD.