Idiogrpahic and Nomothetic approaches Flashcards
idiogrpahic approach defintion
derived form the greek ‘idios’ menaing ‘private’ or ‘perosnal’. an approach to research that focuses more on the individual case as a menas of understainding behvaiour, rather than aiming to formulate general laws of behvaviour (nomothetic approach)
nomothetic approach defintion
derived from the greek ‘nomos’ menaing ‘law’. the nomothetic approahc aims to study human behvaiour through the development of general principles and universal laws
what does the idiographic approach suggest psychology should study
individuals because, by obtaining lots of detailed information about that individaul (or group), we can better understand human behvaiour
what does the nomothetic approach suggest psycholog should study
study if large and varied groups to make generalisations about what is typical in differnet aspects of human behvaiour such as establishing norms
how has the debate have implications into reserach methods
if we study individuals in depth or study larger groups and discuss averages, however, the sense in which these two overlap and both may have their place within a scientific study of the person
how is idiogrpahic reasearch often carried out
small, often single case. this can include information abiut family and friends or others, but the important part is it focuses on the detail. this does not prevent generalisations being made, but the initial focus is about understading the individual
what is the initial purpose of the idiogrpahic approach
to understand the individual
what type of data is most often collected in idiographic research
qualitative
how is qualitative data often collected for the idiographic approach
case studies–> participants are interviewed in depth and the focus may be a particular facet of human behaviour, such as how participants coped with the experience such as using a fairly unstructured interview, such data is then analysed and emergent themes are identified, conclusions may help other people going through similar experiences, or more widely, may help mental health professionals determine best practice
