If it merely collates instances of the effect, it is a method of pure observation.
"A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive (Vol. 1 of 2)"
John Stuart Mill
The Manual is useful because it gives a full and tolerably complete list of English authors, and collates many of their works with considerable care; it is, moreover, the authority quoted by cataloguers, and, being a copyright publication, practically bars the way to any rival work on the same subject.
"Book Collecting A Guide for Amateurs"
John Herbert Slater
He also collates the Hebrew text with the Septuagint version of the Scriptures.
"An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800"
Mary Frances Cusack