Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches

Question 1

What is the idiographic approach?

Answer 1

• Focuses on individuals and emphasises uniqueness
• Attempts to describe the nature of the individual rather than aiming to formulate general laws of behaviour
• People are studied as unique individuals with own subjective experiences, motivation and values

Question 2

What research methods are associated with the idiographic approach?

Answer 2

• Attempts to gain insight into human behaviour by studying unique individuals in depth rather than gaining numerical data for many individuals and determining average characteristics
  = Qualitative date such as:
• Case studies
• Unstructured interviews
• Some self-report methods (questionnaires with open questions)

Question 3

What are 2 examples of the idiographic approach?

Answer 3

Freud’s case studies:
- as a