IDIOGRAPHIC VS NOMOTHETIC Flashcards
what is the idiographic approach?
an approach to research that focuses more on individual case to understand behaviour rather than formulate general laws of behaviour
what is an example of research methods that use an idiographic approach?
case studies
unstructured interviews
what do case studies and unstructured interviews show?
central aim to describe richness of human exp and gain insight into their unique way of seeing the world
what approaches take an idiographic approach?
humanistic
psychodynamic
how does humanistic approach take an idiographic perspective?
Rogers and Maslow take a phenomenological approach and document conscious experience of individual self
how does psychodynamic approach take an idiographic perspective?
theory is based on Freud’s case study on patients but applies findings as universal behaviour
define the nomothetic approach?
attempts to study human behaviour through development of general principles and universal laws
nomothetic approach aims to…
produce general laws of human behaviour
what do nomothetic psychologists use their findings as?
a benchmark to compare, classify and measure future behaviour
what research method do nomothetic psychologists prefer?
scientific experiments because you can generalise
what are characteristics of nomothetic approaches?
one’s that are reductionist, determinist and scientific
what approaches are nomothetic?
behaviourist
biological
cognitive
SLT
give one strength and one weakness of the idiographic approach
+ provides complete and global acct of individuals
- narrow and restricted
one strength of the idiographic approach is that…
it provides a complete and global acct of the individual
how does the idiographic approach leads to complete and global acct of individual?
through indepth qualitative methods
indepth qualitative methods used by the idiographic approach…
complements the nomothetic approach as it sheds light on general laws or challenges them
what is an example of a single case that generated hypotheses?
HM, case study research is true for brain damaged individuals
case study research favoured by idiographic psychologists provides…
insights to normal function and contributes to overall understanding
therefore, the _________ _________ of the idiographic approach in psychology is increased
internal validity
a weakness of idiographic research is…
that it is narrow and restricted
since idiographic research is narrow and restricted this means that what cannot be made?
meaningful generalisations cannot be made without further examples, as no adeq baseline to compare beh
what is an example of a psychodynamic concept that is narrow and restricted?
Oedipus complex by Freud, developed from detailed study of a single case
the methods associated with the idiographic approach are the…
least scientific as conc rely on the subjective interp of researcher leading to bias
since idiographic research is narrow and restricted…
the credibility of the idiographic approach is decreased
give one strength and one weakness of the nomothetic approach
+ more scientific
- loses the person in psychology
one strength of the nomothetic approach is that…
the processes involved in nomothetic research tends to be more scientific, mirroring the natural sciences
how is nomothetic approach scientific?
uses data sets, provides group average, statistical analysis, prediction and control e.g. in field of IQ testing
such scientific processes in nomothetic research have enabled psychologists….
to establish norms of ‘typical’ behaviour such as the average IQ of 100, gives psychology greater scientific credibility
therefore, since the nomothetic approach tends to be more scientific…
the credibility of it is increased
one weakness of the nomothetic approach is that…
the fixation of general laws, prediction and control can be accused for losing the whole person is psychology
an example of nomothetic approach losing the person in psych is..
that 1% lifetime risk of schizo tells us nothing about the life for someone who suffers from the disorder
in lab studies involving memory…
ppts treated like scores rather than individual ppl and subjective experience is ignored
the nomothetic approach overlooks..
richness of human experience, decreasing internal validity
