Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches Flashcards
What is the idiographic approach?
Attempts to describe the nature of the individual - people are studied as unique entities, with their own subjective experiences, motivations and values. The approach is generally associated with qualitative data, case studies, unstructured interviews and self-report measures. Each piece of research is catered to the person upon which it is focused.
What is the nomothetic approach?
Aims to produce general laws of human behaviour, against which people can be compared, classified and measured, on the basis of which future behaviour can be predicted. It is closely aligned with very scientific methods of research such as laboratory experiments, trying to establish ways in which people are similar.
What is an example of the idiographic approach?
Humanistic psychology - Rogers and Maslow were only interested in documenting the conscious experience of the individual, more concerned with investigating unique experience ‘to its own merits’ than producing general laws.
Also psychodynamic approach - use of case study.
What is an example of the nomothetic approach?
Tends to be a feature of reductionist approaches, in the cognitive, behaviourist and biological approaches. For example, Skinner and Pavlov found general laws of conditioning, the biological studies of memory or circadian rhythms and how they are universally shared.
What is the case for the idiographic approach?
With its in-depth qualitative methods of investigation it provides a complete account of the individual, possibly complementing the nomothetic approach. For example, a single case such as HM may generate further study - into the different types of LTM.
What is the case against the idiographic approach?
Supporters of this must appreciate the narrow and restricted nature of the work. Freud’s main criticism is that his only evidence is Little Hans. Meaningful generalisations cannot be made without a larger sample size against which to compare behaviour. Also is the less scientific approach as conclusions rely on subjective interpretation.
What is the case for the nomothetic approach?
The processes are more scientific, mirroring the micro sciences. Testing under standardised conditions, data sets, statistical analysis and control are featured in this. This allows psychologists to establish norms of typical behaviour, giving psychology greater credibility.
What is the case against the nomothetic approach?
The preoccupation with general laws has been accused of losing the whole person in psychology - knowing there is a 1% risk of developing Sz tells us little about the disorder. In lab studies testing memory, participants are treated as a series of scores and not individual people so experience is ignored. This means that the nomothetic approach ignores the richness of human experience.
