@Skaggfacemutt Yes, I agree that is probably the word that the OP is looking for.
However, when the OP (along with several other jellies who followed suit) puts the word “theory” into the same category as “speculation” while elevating “empirical” to the same category as “real”, that indicates a lack of understanding of how these terms are used in science. That’s what @Neodarwinian and I are responding to.
To people who don’t have a science background, “theory” is a word that inspires suspicion, while something “empirical” is trustworthy and always factual. In science, exactly the opposite is true.