Idiographic And Nomothetic Approaches Flashcards
What does the idiographic approach suggest?
Psychology should be the study of individuals because by obtaining lots of detailed info about the individual/ group we can understand human behaviour better.
How does the nomothetic approach suggest psychology should be studied?
The study of large and varied groups to make generalisations about what is typical in different aspects of human behaviour e.g. establishing norms.
What do nomothetic and idiographic approaches have implications for?
The type of research method psychologists use - whether we study individuals in depth or larger groups and discuss averages.
What is the number of ppts in an idiographic rseaerch?
Often small or a single case.
What might some research by an idiographic approach include?
Info from family, friends or others but the focus is on detail - what can we learn about this individual case.
What is the initial focus of an idiographic approach?
Understanding the individual.
What is most idiographic research?
Qualitative e.g. Research on depression would be based on first-hand accounts from a small number of people. Ppts would be interviewed in depth and the focus might be on a particular facet of human behaviour e.g. how ppts coped with their experience (using a fairly unstructured interview). Data is then analysed and emergent themes are identified. Conclusions may help others going through a similar experience or more widely help mental health professionals determine the best practice.
What is the idiographic approach most associated with?
The humanistic and psychodynamic approach e.g. Rogers sought to explain self-development including the role of unconditional positive regard. This was derived from in-depth conversation with clients in therapy.
Freud’s careful observation of individuals were the basis of his explanations of human nature e.g. little hans was used to explain how phobias might develop.
What is the main aim of a nomothetic approach?
Generalisation to create ‘laws’ (create general principles of behaviour which then could be applied to individual situations e.g. drug therapy).
How does nomothetic research fit traditional models of the scientific method?
Hypotheses are formulated, samples of people are are assessed in some way and numerical data produced is analysed for its statistical significance.
What do nomothetic approaches seek to quantify?
Human behaviour.
What approaches are nomothetic?
Behavioural and biological. E.g. Skinner studied animals to develop general laws of learning. Research looked into one aspect of behaviour in a few animals but the main aim was to establish general laws.
Biopsych may use small samples e.g. Sperry’s split brain research which involved repeated testing and was in part the basis for understanding hemispheric lateralisation.
What approach has objectivity at the heart of it?
Nomothetic approach.
How are laws of behaviour possible?
If methods of assessment are delivered in a standardised and objective way which ensures replication occurs across samples of behaviour and removes the contaminating influence of bias.
What do research’s who work within idiographic approaches tend not to believe in?
objectivity in psychological research is possible. People’s individual experiences is important rather than some underlying reality ‘out there’ waiting to be discovered.
Evaluation of idiographic: contributes to the nomothetic approach
Uses in-depth qualitative methods of investigation and provides a global description of one individual. This may compliment the nomothetic approach by shedding further light on general laws or by challenging such laws. E.g. a single case may generate a hypotheses for further study (HM). Cases like HM may reveal important insight about normal functioning which may contribute to our overall understanding.
Evaluation: counterpoint to idiographic approach contributing to the nomothetic approach
Supporters of the idiographic approach should acknowledge the narrow and restricted nature of their work. Meaningful generalisations cant be made without further examples as this means theres no adequate baseline with which to compare behaviour. In addition methods associated with the idiographic approach e.g. case studies tend to be less scientific as conclusions rely on subjective interpretations and are open to bias. This suggests it’s difficult to build effective general theories of human behaviour in the complete absence of nomothetic research.
Evaluation: both approaches fit with the aims of science
Processes involved in nomothetic research are similar those in natural sciences e.g. establishing objectivity through standardisation, control and stats testing. However researchers using the idiographic approach seek to objectify methods. E.g. triangulation is used whereby findings from a range of studies using different qualitative methods are compared as a way of increasing validity. Also modern qualitative researchers are careful to reflect upon their own biases and preconceptions as part of the research process. This suggests both nomothetic and idiographic approaches raise psychology’s status as a science.
Evaluation of nomothetic: loss of understanding of the individual.
The fact the nomothetic approach is preoccupied with general laws, prediction and control means it has been accused of ‘losing the whole person’ within psychology. E.g. knowing there is a 1% lifetime risk of developing SZ tells us little about what life is like for someone who has been diagnosed with the disorder. Understanding the subjective experience of SZ might prove useful when it comes to devising appropriate treatment options. This means in its search for generalities the nomothetic approach may sometimes fail to relate to experience.
