idiographic / nomothetic

Question 1

what is the idiographic/nomothetic debate concerned with

Answer 1

whether psychology should make generalisations to compare people or whether it should hold the belief that all people are unique

Question 2

what is the belief of the idiographic approach

Answer 2

• emphasis on the self and that all individuals are unique

- generalisations made from quantitative methods are irrelevant as they don’t describe the nature of the individual

Question 3

how is data collected in the idiographic approach

Answer 3

• interviews, self reflections and self-report methods used within case studies
• they gain more insight into the persons unique way of thinking about the world

Question 4

give two examples of the idiographic approach in research

Answer 4

• humanistic psychology - interested in experiences of the self
• psychodynamic approach - case studies

Question 5

what is the belief of the nomothetic approach

Answer 5

• we are able to draw conclusions about populations from smaller groups
• it establishes general laws of behaviour

Question 6

how does the nomothetic approach collect data

Answer 6

• empirical testing

- large numbers of pps are tested and similarities in behaviours are found

Question 7

give three examples of the nomothetic approach in research

Answer 7

• behaviourism - cause and effect laws of conditioning
• cognitive - memory models applied to all
• biological - empirical, lab testing applied to all

Question 8

explain the strengths of the idiographic approach

Answer 8

• in-depth qualitative assessments give complete account of individual
• works well with nomothetic approach do demonstrate or challenge general laws

Question 9

explain the weaknesses of the idiographic approach

Answer 9

• narrow and restricted view of behaviour
• no meaningful generalisations without further validation
• relies on subjective interpretation of researcher - bias

Question 10

explain the strengths of the nomothetic approach

Answer 10

• scientific approach - data analysed quantitatively and tested under standardised conditions
• enabled psychologists to establish norms of behaviour giving psychology greater scientific credibility

Question 11

explain the weaknesses of the nomothetic approach

Answer 11

• overlooks the richness of human experience and ignores individual feelings and experiences
• in lab experiments pps treated as a series of results rather than individual people and subjective experiences ignored