idiographic vs nomothetic Flashcards
what is the idiographic approach to psychology?
it attempts to describe the nature of the individual
what does the idiographic approach suggest?
everyone is unique and therefore should be studied in an individual way
does the idiographic approach attempt to generate general laws?
doesn’t attempt to generate general laws as individuals have their own unique and subjective experiences.
what are the methods of investigation for idiographic approaches?
- includes qualitative data, investigating individuals in personal and detailed ways
- methods of research include: case studies, unstructured interviews, self-reports, autobiographies, personal documents
what is the nomothetic approach in psychology?
focuses on similarities between people.
what laws does the nomothetic approach generate?
it aims to establish laws and generalisations about people and behaviour and providing ‘benchmarks’ which people can be compared to and measured against.
what 3 categories can laws be generalised into?
clasifying people into groups
establishing principles
establishing dimensions
how can the 3 laws be used in psychology?
classifying people into groups- DSM-5
establishing principles- behaviourist law of learning
establishing dimensions- eysencks personality inventory
what are the methods of investigation for nomothetic approaches?
- use scientific and quantitative data
- usually use experiments and observations
- group averages are statistically analysed to create predictions about people in general
which approach is better?
both approaches make valuble contributions to psychological research, however the relative value of each approach depends upon the purpose of the research.
what situations are the approaches better suited for?
the idiographic approach is better suited for descriptions of behaviour, whilst nomothetic is suited to predictions of behaviour
how are the two approaches seen as complimentary?
idiographic research can further develop a nomothetic law and idiographic approaches may also serve as a source of ideas and hypotheses for later studies.
AO3: how is ‘uses in-depth qualitative methodology’ a strength to idiographic approaches in the idiographic vs nomothetic debate?
this approach uses in-depth, qualitative methodology to investigate behaviour. this is better than the nomothetic approach as it considers the unique individual. therefore, this allows us a greater understanding of behaviour which may help with treatments and support the development of nomothetic research.
AO3: how is narrow and restrictive’ a limitation to idiographic approaches in the idiographic vs nomothetic debate?
idiographic approaches are narrow and restrictive due to the small sample used. this means they are unable to create laws of behaviour due to the unscientific methodology of subjective interpretations used. therefore, this increases the scientific credibility of nomothetic approaches.
AO3: how is ‘higher scientific methodology’ a strength to nomothetic approaches in the idiographic vs nomothetic debate?
nomothetic approaches have higher scientific methodology used, which increases the reliability of research. compared to idiographic approaches, they use large samples which allows findings to be generalised and laws to be created that relate to human behaviour. therefore, this increases the scientific credibility of nomothetic approaches.
