What is the difference between a descriptive and an explanatory statement?
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A descriptive statement simply describes a situation or phenomenon, while an explanatory statement seeks to provide reasons or causes for why something is the way it is. Descriptive statements focus on providing details and observations, while explanatory statements aim to offer insight and understanding.
A normative theory prescribes how things should be or how people ought to behave, based on values and beliefs. A descriptive theory seeks to explain how things are or how people actually behave, based on observations and empirical evidence. Essentially, normative theories provide moral or prescriptive guidance, while descriptive theories provide explanatory or analytical insights.
The main difference is that an argumentative essay presents a claim or argument, supported by evidence and reasoning, to persuade the reader, while an explanatory essay focuses on providing information and explaining a topic without taking a stance or trying to persuade the reader.
Research can be classified according to purpose as exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory. Exploratory research aims to explore new areas or gain initial insights. Descriptive research seeks to describe characteristics or behaviors within a population. Explanatory research aims to identify causal relationships between variables.
There are four main types of expository teaching in education: descriptive, explanatory, comparison, and procedural. Descriptive expository teaching focuses on describing a topic or concept in detail, while explanatory expository teaching aims to explain how something works or why it happens. Comparison expository teaching involves highlighting similarities and differences between two or more things, and procedural expository teaching focuses on outlining a sequence of steps or processes to achieve a specific outcome.
Descriptive theories aim to describe and explain how things are, based on observation and data. Prescriptive theories, on the other hand, provide recommendations or guidelines on how things should be or how people should act, based on values or norms.