Idiographic and nomothetic approaches Flashcards
What is the idiographic approach?
An approach that focuses more on the individual to understand behaviour rather than aiming to formulate general laws of behaviour. The idiographic approach is normally associated with research that produces qualitative data such as case studies and unstructured interviews.
What is the nomothetic approach?
It attempts to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws. The nomothetic approach is closely aligned with scientific methods such as experiments.
What is an example of the idiographic approach?
The humanistic approach is idiographic as Rogers and Maslow only looked at the experience of an individual and the findings are not very scientific as they look at unique experience. Also, the psychodynamic approach is idiographic as it uses case studies to collect information about patients.
What is an example of the nomothetic approach?
Most research that is conducted by behavioural, cognitive and biological scientists is nomothetic. For example, Skinner looked at rats and created general laws about conditioning through these studies. Also, brain scans have been carried out on human brains to make generalisations about localisation of function.
What is the case for the idiographic approach?
It provides a complete account of an individual and a more detailed insight. For example, a case study of HM may reveal important insights about function which contributes to our understanding of memory.
What is the case against the idiographic approach?
The idiographic approach offers a narrow and restricted view of behaviour. For example, Freud’s case study is hard to generalise as it is from an abnormal child. Also, the studies are less scientific.
What is the case for the nomothetic approach?
The processes are more scientific and uses standardised methods of data collection. For example, IQ testing offers statistical analysis of scores and this has allows norms of behaviour to be established.
What is the case against the nomothetic approach?
It ignores human experience. Knowing there is a 1% risk of developing schizophrenia doesn’t help to know what life is like with schizophrenia. Similarly in lab studies scores do not tell us about the experience of a person.
What is the case against the nomothetic approach?
It ignores human experience. Knowing there is a 1% risk of developing schizophrenia doesn’t help to know what life is like with schizophrenia. Similarly in lab studies scores do not tell us about the experience of a person.
