Discuss the idiographic and nomothetic approaches to psychological investigation

Question 1

idiographic

Answer 1

Idiographic approaches (humanistic, psychodynamic) focus on the individual case a means of understanding behaviour and emphasise uniqueness individuals, favouring qualitative research methods.

involves the study of individuals and the unique insights each individual gives us about human behaviour therefore, the approach is qualitative as it focuses on gaining insight into behaviour by studying unique individuals to understand behaviour.

To do this successfully, the approach uses qualitative research methods such as unstructured interviews, case studies and thematic analysis.

For example, the case study of Little Hans involved 150 pages of quotes regarding Little Han’s life events and Freud’s interpretation of events, producing generalisations from these.

Question 2

nomothetic

Answer 2

Nomothetic approaches (biological, behavioural, cognitive) focus on studying groups as a means of understanding behaviour and seeking to formulate general laws of behaviour.

It attempts to summarise the differences between people through generations and favours quantitative research methods and the use of statistical techniques.

The approach involves the study of a large number of people and then seeks to make generalisations or to develop law/theories about their behaviour therefore, the approach is quantitative as it attempts to establish cause and effect relationships which may involve thousands of people.

To do this successfully, the approach uses quantitative data to complete graphs so measures of central tendency, dispersion and statistical analysis can be completed.

Question 3

strength idio

Answer 3

A strength of the idiographic approach is its focus on the individual.

This is because Allport (1961) argued that nomothetic approaches cause psychologists to lose sight of the meaning behind human behaviours.

For example, Allport argued there was too much emphasis on generalised measurements (nomothetic), and it is only by knowing the person as an individual that we can predict what they would do in a situation (idiographic).

This suggests that the focus on individuals can provide us with a more complete understanding of human behaviour.

Question 4

strength nomo

Answer 4

A strength of the nomothetic approach is that it is scientific. Which is when an approach is based on scientific and objective measures that are controlled and rigorous and allow for replication.

For example, the nomothetic approach utilises standard procedures, which can be assessed for both their validity and reliability and further analysed by statistical tests to check for significance.

This is because it is important to understand general laws about mental health disorders, such as knowing 1% of the population have schizophrenia (nomothetic).

This suggests that taking a nomothetic approach to research gives Psychology greater scientific credibility.

Question 5

idio limit

Answer 5

A limitation of the idiographic approach is that it is time-consuming.

The idiographic research methods collect large amounts of data about one person whereas nomothetic methods collect data from a large number of people.

Collecting large amounts of data from a group of people takes time but can be quicker because, once you have devised a questionnaire or psychological test, data can be generated and processed quickly.

This means that the idiographic approach is less efficient when it comes to data collection.

Question 6

interactionist

Answer 6

An interactionist approach would be the best approach to conducting research. This is when it is not possible to separate either debate as they both contribute to behaviour so a combination of the two is the most appropriate in explaining and treating behaviour.

This is because it is important to understand general laws about mental health disorders, such as knowing 1% of the population have schizophrenia (nomothetic).

However, schizophrenic symptoms may differ between patients and therefore we need to look at each schizophrenic individual to gain a more detailed understanding (idiographic).

This highlights the importance of taking an interactionist approach when considering both the idiographic and nomothetic approaches to conducting research within Psychology.