5.5 Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches Flashcards
What is an idiographic approach?
An approach that focuses more on the individual case as a means of understanding behaviour, rather than formulating general laws
(behaviour can be better understood with detailed information about individuals)
What is a nomothetic approach?
Aims to study behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws
(studies large groups to make generalisations about typical behaviour)
What type of data does the idiographic approach produce and why?
- Qualitative
- consists of unstructured interviews, case studies
- in depth focus on particular aspect, data analysed and emergent themes identified
What are 2 examples of the idographic approach in psychology and how?
- Humanistic (role of unconditional positive regard derived from in-depth conversations with clients in therapy)
- Psychodyamic (Freuds interpretations based on the observations of individuals e.g little Hans)
What is the main aim of the nomothetic approach?
Generalisation in order to create laws (e.g general principles of behaviour), that can be applied to individual situations
What type of data does the nomothetic approach produce and how?
- Quantitative
- Samples of people or sometimes animals are tested (e.g through structured questionnaire/psychological test)
- Numerical data produced + analysed for its statistical significance
What are 2 examples of the nomothetic approach in psychology?
- Behaviourist (Skinner studied one aspect of behaviour in animals to establish general laws)
- Biological (Sperry’s split-brain research was the basis for understanding hemispheric lateralisation)
What are the differences in the objectivity of the idiographic and nomothetic approach?
- Idiographic: mainly subjective, an individuals experience of unique context is most important
- Nomothetic: laws of behaviour only possible if method of assessment is objective/standardised (ensures replication across samples)
AO3 for idiographic and nomothetic approaches
