idiographic vs nomothetic approach

Question 1

what the idiographic approach

Answer 1

• an individual case or behaviour is looked at in rich detail. case is unique and often subject to individual differences.

Question 2

what data collection techniques are favoured in the idiographic approach

Answer 2

-qualitative data techniques
–> unstructured interviews
–> case studies

Question 3

what approaches in psychology is the idiographic approach most commonly associated with

Answer 3

humanism- each individual is looked at holistically and as their own person with unique experience no general laws or patterns
psychodynamic- behaviour is a result of each unique childhood experience

Question 4

what is the nomothetic approach

Answer 4

when a large group of people are assigned vague generalised laws about their behaviour and its cause.

Question 5

what data collection techniques are favoured in the nomothetic approach

Answer 5

• quantitative data that is able to be statistically analysed and proven significant
  –> structured questionnaire which produces quantitative data
  –> content analysis
  –>scientific experiments

Question 6

what approaches in psychology are commonly associated with the nomothetic approach.

Answer 6

-biological approach
-cognitive approach
-behaviourist approach

Question 7

differences between idio and nomo

Answer 7

-idiographic is more subjective, rich in detail and focuses on individual differences whereas laws of behaviour are established in an objective and standardised way focusing on the ability to replicate and therefore generalise rather than an individual difference.

Question 8

advantage of idiographic

Answer 8

+ it creates an in depth account of behaviour that is inaccessible in the nomothetic approach
+because of this it is used for the basis of many nomothetic theories as a single case can lead to a general theory such as the case study of HM in memory and the case study of little Hans- these were both magnifications converted into larger theories.

Question 9

disadvantage of idiographic

Answer 9

• use of individual case studies raises issues with generalisability, if a case study was a basis of a nomothetic approach it would lack ecological validity because the person may have been a unique case which shouldnt be widely generalised.
• cant singularly be used to portray scientific credibility in psychology due to lack of reliablity and ecological validity

Question 10

advantage of nomothetic approach

Answer 10

+far more scientific therefore contributes to establishment of psychology as a science
+more economic and resourceful than the idiographic approach producing drug treatments
+the classification system directly hinges around taking a nomothetic approach in psychology

Question 11

disadvantage of nomothetic approach

Answer 11

• drug treatments aren’t effective for all patients therefore an idiographic method is more effective for some 25% of SSRIs are ineffective in treating OCD
• loss of understanding of the individual- a general law will not give us a comprehensive understanding of the person fails to relate to experience eg knowing that a person will have a 1% chance of developing Sz doesngt tell us anything about what life is like for a person with Sz which could assist in appropriacy of finding treatments