Idiographic And Nomithetic Approaches* Flashcards
Define idiographic approach
‘Idos’ means ‘private or personal’ in Greek.
An approach to research that focuses more on the individual case as a means of understanding behaviour, rather than aiming to formulate general laws of behaviour.
Define the nomothetic approach
‘Nomos’ means ‘law’. This approach attempts to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws.
The case for the idiographic approach
In depth qualitative methods provide a complete and global account of the individual. May complement the nomothetic approach by shedding light on general laws or by challenging laws.
A single study may generate hypothesis for further study (HM). For cases of brain damaged individuals it can reveal insights about normal functioning which can contribute to overall understanding.
Case against the idiographic approach
Narrow and restricted nature.
Generalisations cannot be made hit out further examples; eg Freud’s Oedipus complex which was developed from one case study (little Hans).
Not very scientific in that the conclusions are drawn on the subjective interpretations of the researcher.
What does the idiographic approach attempt to do?
Describe the nature the individual.
Study people as unique, each which their own subjective experiences, motivations and values
Often no attempt to compare this to a larger group
What methods is the idiographic approach associated with?
Ones that produce qualitative data;
>case studies
>unstructured interviews
>self report measures
What is one central aim of idiographic research?
To describe the richness of human experience and gain insight into the person’s unique way of seeing the world
What is the main aim of the nomothetic approach?
To produce general laws of human behaviour
To provide a ‘benchmark’ from which people can be compared, classified, measured and future behaviour can be predicted
What methods use the nomothetic approach?
‘Scientific methods’ eg experiments
Study of large samples to establish ways people are similar/different
How is the humanistic approach an example of the idiographic approach?
Rogers and Maslow focused it on documenting to conscious experience of the individual, investigating unique experiences rather than producing general laws of behaviour
Why is the psychodynamic approach labelled as idiographic?
Use of case studies which looked at individuals
However
Freud claimed he identified universal laws of behaviour which is inline with nomothetic
Which approaches are examples of nomothetic research?
Reductionist, determinist and those that employ scientific methods
Hypotheses are made, large samples are used, statistical significance
Behaviourist, cognitive and biological
Why is behaviourism nomothetic?
Studied rats, pigeons etc to develop laws of learning
Why is the cognitive approach nomothetic?
Infers memory structures and processes by measuring performance of large samples in lab tests
Why is the biological approach nomothetic?
Brian scans have been carries out on countless participants to make generalisations about location of function
