Idiographic vs Nomothetic Flashcards
Strength (they are both complementary) DW
P: The idiographic approach can complement the nomothetic approach by providing support or challenging general laws
E: For example, the study of patient KF showed that there were two different types of short-term memory, challenging the MSM which said it was a unitary store.
E: The case study of an individual provided significant insight for cognitive psychologists to establish general laws about how our STM works, which separates STM components for visual information (VSS) and verbal information (phonological loop)
I: Consequently, a single case study which is a idiographic method can generate further research into a particular phenomenon (eg. memory) which contributes to the development of new theories which can make general law that can be applied to everyone and hence further our understanding of human behaviour.
strength N (more scientific) DW
P: Nomothetic research tends to be more scientific as: testing is under standardised conditions; data sets providing group averages are used; statistical analysis can occur; prediction and control are used.
E: For example, in the field of IQ testing pyschologists have established that the average IQ is 100 and the normal range for IQ is between 70 and 130. Furthermore, Biological psychologists take a nomothetic approach when explaining OCD and claim that OCD is caused by higher levels of dopamine and lower levels of serotonin.
E: Drug therapies are developed on the basis of nomothetic research and work by readdressing a biological imbalance
I: SSRI’s are used to treat OCD and increase the availability and uptake of serotonin, thus reducing the anxiety associated with OCD which helps us to improve the lives of people suffering from this condition, as a result of nomothetic research.
limitation N (whole person is lost) DW
P: the preoccupation to focus on general laws and predicting and controlling behaviour can mean that the whole person is lost.
E: For example, Milgram’s research found that 65% of participants obeyed an authority figure and inflicted a 450-volt electric shock because they were ordained to do so.
E: However, the results fail to provide an explanation of why each person obeyed, and there may have been very different circumstances that led to the obedience found in each participant.
I: This can cause issues for treatments of certain disorders. Knowing that there is a 1% probability that someone will develop schizophrenia does not tell us what it is like suffer from the illnesss. This means that the richness of human experience is overlooked
Limitation both (considering both perspectives) HB
P: Rather than seeing idiographic and nomothetic approaches as mutually exclusive, it is possible to consider the issue from both perspectives.
E: For example, Shaffer’s stages of attachment are nomothetic suggesting that all children go through stages in the same order. But, Bowlby’s 44 thieves study is idiographic as it was based on a series of detailed case studies showing what can happen during early development.
E: Considering both approaches together will provide rich, detailed descriptions of human behaviour as well as the explanation of such behaviour within the framework of general laws.
Limitation I (unscientific methods) DW
P: The idiographic approach uses unscientific methods to find in-depth information about an individual.
E: For example, qualitative research methods such as case studies, unstructured interviews, and thematic analysis are used, which give in depth and insight into individual behaviour.
E: The methods tend not to be scientific, so the conclusions that are drawn regarding individuals often rely on subjective interpretation of the researcher, so they are open to bias and aren’t replicable reducing the reliability of the methods used.
I: The emphasis on in-depth data collection and the difficulties arriving at justifiable generalisations contradicts the central purpose of any mature science; the most variation in the fewest terms possible terms so that phenomena can be predicted and ultimately controlled.
