6. nomothetic and idiographic Flashcards
what is an idiographic approach
focuses on the individual (case study) and recognition of uniqueness. ideographic research has a small number of participants. some research may include information from family or friends but the focus is on the detail. the initial focus is about understanding the individual - but this does not mean generalisations cannot be made.
most idiographic research is qualitative and participants would be interviewed in depth and the focus may be on a particular faucet of human behaviour (such as how participants coped with their experience of depression). data is then analysed and emergent themes are identified. conclusions may help other people going through similar experiences or more widely may help mental health professionals determine best practice.
what is the nomothetic idiographic debate
centred on two opposing approaches - idiographic approach that suggests psychology should be the study of individuals because by obtaining lots of information on an individual or group we can understand human behaviour better.
nomothetic approach suggests psychology should be the study of large and varied groups to make generalisations about what is typical in different aspects of human behaviour ie establishing norms
the debate has implications for the type of research psychologists use - whether we study the individual in depth or large groups and discuss averages. there is also a sense in which these two approaches overlap and both may have their place in a scientific study of the person.
which approaches in psychology take an idiographic approach
humanistic = rogers sought to explain the process of self development including the role of unconditional positive regard. this was derived from in depth conversations with clients in therapy.
psychodynamic = freud careful observations of individuals were the basis of explanations of human nature (little hans was studied to explain how a phobia might develop).
what is a nomothetic approach
scientific with the aim of generalisation in order to create laws or general principles of behaviour. these could then be applied in individuals situation (drug therapy) - this approach uses large samples.
uses quantitative research - it most closely fits traditional models of scientific method of psychology. hypothesis are formulated by samples of people or sometimes animals being assessed in some way (by structured questionnaire) and the numerical data produced is analysed for its statistical significance. nomothetic approaches seek to quantify human behaviour.
which approaches in psychology take a nomothetic approach
the behaviourist and biological approaches are nomothetic even though they sometimes use quite small samples.
behaviourist = skinner studied animals to generate the general laws of learning. his research looked at one aspect of behaviour in a few animals but the main aim was to establish general laws.
biological psychology = a small sample may be used. for example - split brain research which involved repeated testing and was in part the basis for understanding hemispheric lateralisation.
how is does the debate formulate objectivity verses subjectivity
the idea of objectivity lies at the heart of the nomothetic approach. laws of behaviour are only possible if methods of assessment are delivered in a standardised and objective way - ensures true replication occurs across samples of behaviour and removes the contaminating influence of bias.
researchers working within the ideographic approach tend not to believe that objectivity in psychological research is possible. it is individual experiences of their unique context that it important rather than some underlying reality
out there that is waiting to be discovered.
what are some examples of the idiographic approach
gordon allport found over 18,000 separate terms describing personal characteristics. whilst some of these are common traits the majority referred to more or less unique dispositions based on life experiences peculiar to ourselves. he argues that they cannot be effectively studied using standardised tests but investigating them idiographically.
roger (humanist) developed a method of doing this = Q-sort. subject is given a large set of cards with a self evaluative statement written on each one. they then sort the cards into piles -‘most like me’ and ‘least like me’ and one or more for statements that are in between. potentially infinite number of variations which is how it should be for an idiographic psychologist because in their view there are ultimately as many different personalities as there are people.
freud used case studies of his patients to understand human behaviour (little hans). the case study consisted of 150 pages of quotes recorded by his father and descriptions of events in his life. freud did produce some generalisations from this case study but these are still idiographic as are drawn from unique individuals.
what are some examples of a nomothetic approach
biological approach
general behaviour laws
memory - miller magic 7 & peterson and peterson
zimbardo
explain how the debate needs a combination of both
nomothetic is more scientific as takes evidence based and objective methods to formulate casual laws. so we can make predictions about how people are likely to react in certain circumstances which can be very useful.
idiographic approach is very time consuming and takes a lot of time and money to study individuals in depth. however once a questionnaire or experiment has been designed data can be collected quickly in nomothetic approach.
therefore best to take a combined approach. researchers suggested that research should start with a nomothetic approach and once general laws have been established research can then move to a more idiographic approach. for example - future of drug therapies can be individualised based on genes and environmental insights.
what is an example of nomothetic and idiographic approaches working together
idiographic and nomothetic approaches should not be seen as conflicting but rather as complementary. the insights from an idiographic approach can shed more light on the general principles developed using the nomothetic approach.
for example bowbly theory of maternal deprivation suggest that extreme maternal deprivation is irreversible - this theory was developed using a nomothetic approach. however the case of koluchovas twins demonstrates that in this single idiographic case maternal deprivation was overcome = theory can therefore be challenged.
how is scientific credibility a strength of the nomothetic idiographic debate
a strength of both approaches is that they fit with the aims of science - the processes involved in nomothetic research are similar to those used in the natural sciences = establishing objectivity through standardisation, control and statistical testing.
however researchers using the idiographic approach also seek to objectify their methods = triangulation is used whereby findings from a range of studies using different qualitative methods are compared as a way of increasing their validity. also modern qualitative researchers are careful by reflecting upon their own biases and preconceptions as a part of the research process = both nomothetic and idiographic approaches raise psychology status as a science.
counter = the geographic approach may be scientific but the inability to produce general predictions about behaviour is limiting. such general predictions can be useful (in producing drugs to treat mental illness). it will be far too time consuming to produce personal therapies unique to individuals and therefore we need to be able to make predictions about the most likely therapeutic solutions.
how does losing the understanding of a person limit the nomothetic approach
nomothetic approach is preoccupied with general laws and predictions so has been accused of ‘losing the whole person’ within psychology.
for example - knowing that there is a 1% lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia tell us little about what life is like for someone who has been diagnosed with the disorder. understanding the subjective experience of schizophrenia might help for when it comes to advising appropriate treatment options = means that the search for generalities may sometimes fail to relate to experience.
how does the nomothetic idiographic approach create a complete account for the debate
ideographic approach uses in depth qualitative method of investigation - provides a global description of one individual. may complement the nomothetic approach by shedding further light on general laws or indeed by challenging such laws. for example - single case study may generate hypothesis for further study. cases like HM may reveal important insights about normal functioning which may contribute to our overall understanding = suggests that even though the focus is on few individuals the idiographic approach may still help form scientific laws of behaviour.
counter = meaningful generalisations cannot be made without further examples as this means there is no adequate baseline which to compare the behaviour. also methods associated with the ideographic approach (case studies) tend to be the least scientific in that the conclusions often rely on subjective interpretation of the researcher and as such are open to bias = suggests that it is difficult to build effective general theories of human behaviour in the complete absence of nomothetic research.
