Fact vs. Artifact — What's the Difference?

A piece of information used as evidence or as part of a report.

Something observed in a scientific investigation that is not naturally present but occurs as a result of the investigative procedure.

A real occurrence or situation.

An object made or modified by humans, often an item of historical or cultural interest.

A truth known by actual experience or observation.

An item that provides insight into a previous era's life and practices.

Something demonstrated to exist or known to have existed.

A product of artificial character due to deliberate human design.

An actual or alleged event or circumstance.

A surviving object from the past.

A fact is an occurrence in the real world. The usual test for a statement of fact is verifiability—that is whether it can be demonstrated to correspond to experience.

An object produced or shaped by human craft, especially a tool, weapon, or ornament of archaeological or historical interest.

A thing that is known or proved to be true

Something viewed as a product of human conception or agency rather than an inherent element

Knowledge or information based on real occurrences

A phenomenon or feature not originally present or expected and caused by an interfering external agent, action, or process, as an unwanted feature in a microscopic specimen after fixation, in a digitally reproduced image, or in a digital audio recording.

Something demonstrated to exist or known to have existed

An inaccurate observation, effect, or result, especially one resulting from the technology used in scientific investigation or from experimental error

A real occurrence; an event

An object made or shaped by human hand or labor.

Something believed to be true or real

An object made or shaped by some agent or intelligence, not necessarily of direct human origin.

A thing that has been done, especially a crime

Something viewed as a product of human agency or conception rather than an inherent element.

(Law) A conclusion drawn by a judge or jury from the evidence in a case

A finding or structure in an experiment or investigation that is not a true feature of the object under observation, but is a result of external action, the test arrangement, or an experimental error.

Something actual as opposed to invented.

(archaeology) An object, such as a tool, ornament, or weapon of archaeological or historical interest, especially such an object found at an archaeological excavation.

Something which is real.

(biology) An appearance or structure in protoplasm due to death, the method of preparation of specimens, or the use of reagents, and not present during life.

Something concrete used as a basis for further interpretation.

(computing) A perceptible distortion that appears in an audio or video file or a digital image as a result of applying a lossy compression or other inexact processing algorithm.

An objective consensus on a fundamental reality that has been agreed upon by a substantial number of experts.

(museology) Any object in the collection of a museum. May be used sensu stricto only for human-made objects, or may include ones that are not human-made.

Information about a particular subject, especially actual conditions and/or circumstances.

A product of human workmanship; - applied esp. to the simpler products of aboriginal art as distinguished from natural objects.

(databases) An individual value or measurement at the lowest level of granularity in a data warehouse.

Any product of human workmanship; - applied both to objects made for practical purposes as well as works of art. It is contrasted to natural object, i.e. anything produced by natural forces without the intervention of man.

(archaic) Action; the realm of action.

A structure or appearance in protoplasm due to death, method of preparation of specimens, or the use of reagents, and not present during life.

A wrongful or criminal deed.

An object, oservation, phenomenon, or result arising from hidden or unexpected causes extraneous to the subject of a study, and therefore spurious and having potential to lead one to an erroneous conclusion, or to invalidate the study. In experimental science, artifacts may arise due to inadvertant contamination of equipment, faulty experimental design or faulty analysis, or unexpected effects of agencies not known to affect the system under study.

(obsolete) A feat or meritorious deed.

A man-made object taken as a whole

Used before making a statement to introduce it as a trustworthy one.

A doing, making, or preparing.

An effect produced or achieved; anything done or that comes to pass; an act; an event; a circumstance.

Reality; actuality; truth; as, he, in fact, excelled all the rest; the fact is, he was beaten.

The assertion or statement of a thing done or existing; sometimes, even when false, improperly put, by a transfer of meaning, for the thing done, or supposed to be done; a thing supposed or asserted to be done; as, history abounds with false facts.

A piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred;

A statement or assertion of verified information about something that is the case or has happened;

An event known to have happened or something known to have existed;

A concept whose truth can be proved;

Facts provide a foundation for hypotheses and theories, assisting in building knowledge through structured methodologies.

A fact is defined as a piece of information that is empirically true and can be verified.

Artifacts are crucial in archaeology as they provide physical evidence of past human activities, helping to reconstruct historical contexts.

A fact remains constant unless new evidence or research disproves it.

Examples include pottery, tools, clothing, and artwork from various historical periods.

The condition of an artifact can significantly affect its interpretation and the amount of information it can provide about the past.

A fact is a simple, basic element of truth, while a scientific theory is a broader explanation derived from facts.

In historical terms, an artifact is any item made or used by humans, generally an object of cultural or historical interest.

Yes, interpretations of artifacts can vary based on the cultural, historical, and personal perspectives of researchers.

Facts are considered true based on current evidence and knowledge but can be reassessed as new information becomes available.

Facts arise from observation or research, whereas artifacts are directly created or influenced by human actions.

Artifacts are significant in cultural studies as they reflect the beliefs, values, and practices of societies.

An item is considered an artifact if it shows characteristics of human manufacture or modification.

In law, facts are used as evidence to support or refute claims and allegations in court cases.

Facts are fundamental to education, providing the essential data that inform teaching and learning.