Can you help with this sample exercise I have no clue what a empirical study is...

In Part I, you will perform a literature review and select two empirical articles on a research topic of your choice. Both articles must be on the same general topic. Provide a summary of both articles that includes the following information, focusing on your interpretation of the statistical techniques used.

Explain whether the authors used a population or a sample. Explain how this could have affected the results. If a sample was used, was it representative of the entire population? Why or why not?

Describe the hypotheses of the studies. State the null and research hypotheses even if the studies did not specify them.

Describe the major independent and dependent variables. If you had to add one independent and one dependent variable to provide novel information, what would they be and how would they provide additional information?

Provide an example of a measure of central tendency. Why do you think the authors chose this measure as opposed to the other measures (for instance, why did they measure the median as opposed to the mean)? How might the results have differed if they had chosen another measure?

Provide an example of a measure of variability. Why, according to you, did the authors choose this measure as opposed to the other measures?
How might the results have differed if they had chosen another measure? Explain in detail.

Take any result that includes the mean and the standard deviation. If an individual value is provided, use that. Otherwise, make up a typical value that, according to you, would be a valid data point. For instance, if the mean is 100 and the standard deviation is 10, a typical value might be 92. Convert this to a z-score and explain how you would interpret this score compared to the average.

On the basis of the statistics used and the authors' interpretation of the results, describe which study did a better job. Support your stand with a specific example.