idiographic and nomothetic approaches Flashcards
what is an idiographic approach?
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
what is the nomothetic approach?
the nomothetic approach aims to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws
what are aspects of the idiographic approach?
•conduct research using case studies
•humanistic, holistic approach
•uses qualitative data (interviews, observations and longitudinal studies)
what are the characteristics of a nomothetic approach?
•makes generalisations about what is typical
•large scale samples, causal relationships
•scientific laws
•quantitative data (surveys, experiments, statistics, questionnaire)
which approaches is the idiographic approach associated with?
the humanistic and psychodynamic approach
what are examples of research using the idiographic approach?
•carl rogers ‘unconditional positive regard’ was derived from in-depth conversations with clients in therapy
•freud based his explanations of human behaviour on observations of individuals (like Little Hans)- Clive Wearing, Gabby Giffords
what approaches is the nomothetic approaches associated with?
the behaviourist and biological approaches
what are examples of research using the nomothetic approach?
•Skinner studied animals to develop the general laws of learning
•Sperry’s split brain research
•Tenari
strength: the idiographic approach contributes to the nomothetic approach
•it uses in-depth qualitative methods of investigation and this provides a global description of one individual
•this may complement the nomothetic approach by shedding further light on general laws and challenging them
•for example, a case study like HM may generate hypotheses for further study and may reveal important insights about normal functioning, contributing to our overall understanding
limitation: the restricted nature of the idiographic approach
•meaningful generalisations cannot be made without further examples, as this means there is no adequate baseline with which to compare behaviour
•methods associated with the idiographic approach tend to be less scientific in that conclusions often rely on the subjective interpretation of the research and are open to bias
•this suggests that it is difficult to build effective general theories not human behaviour in the complete absence of nomothetic research
strength: both approaches fit with the aims of science
•processes involved in nomothetic research are similar to those used in the natural sciences (establishing objectivity/ standardisation/ control and statistical testing)
•idiographic approach- triangulation
•modern qualitative researchers are careful to reflect upon their own biases and preconceptions as part of the research process
•this suggests that both the nomothetic and idiographic approaches raise psychology’s status as a science
what is triangulation?
triangulation is used whereby findings from a range of studies using different qualitative methods are compared as a way of increasing their validity
limitation of the nomothetic approach: losing the person
•too preoccupied with general laws leads to a loss of understanding of the individual
•for example, knowing there is a 1% chance of developing schizophrenia does not tell us about what it’s like for people who are diagnosed
•understanding the subjective experience of schizophrenia might well prove useful when it comes to revising appropriate treatment options
•this means, in its search for generalities, the nomothetic approach may sometimes fail to relate to ‘experience’
