Issues and Debates - Idiographic and nomothetic approaches to psychological investigation Flashcards
What is the idiographic approach?
A method of investigating behaviour which focuses on individuals and emphasises their uniqueness. Subjective and rich human experience is used as a way of explaining behaviour, without the aim of developing general principles and unifying laws.
What methods does the idiographic approach use?
Associated with methods that produce qualitative data. These methods include studying the individual and not groups and therefore not generalising findings to others.
Give an example of the idiographic approach?
An example is the study of HM and KF where the idiographic approach was used in the form of case studies, and informed further research into the different types of long-term memory.
What are some examples of the idiographic approach?
- The psychodynamic approach : Freud used case studies and in-depth interview to collect qualitative data from Little Hans. Freud also established the psychosexual stages of development on the basis of similar research methods.
- The humanistic approach adopts a holistic and ‘phenomenological’ approach to research, which focuses on the experience of the individual . Such research methods were then used to develop the client-centred therapy and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
What is the nomothetic approach?
Seeks to formulate general laws of behaviour based on the study of groups and the use of statistical, quantitative techniques, it attempts to summarise the differences between people with generalisations, whilst developing general laws and unifying principles which can be used to accurately predict and control behaviour.
According to Radford and Kirby, what general laws has the nomothetic approach produced?
- classifying people into groups
- establishing the principles of behaviour that can be applied to people in general
- establishing dimensions along which people can be placed, compared, measured.
What method is the nomothetic approach associated with?
The scientific approach such as lab experiments and controlled observations, where the influence of extraneous and confounding variables are removed, allowing reliable conclusions to be drawn.
Give some examples of the nomothetic approach
- Behaviourists explain all behaviour in terms of simple stimulus-response links which have been learnt through experience. In order to collect valid and reliable data, behaviourists often use lab experiments, where strict control upon extraneous and confounding variables allows for a ‘cause and effect’ relationship between variables to be established.
- The cognitive approach uses objective methods of measuring brain activity , such as EEG and PET scans. This allows cognitive psychologists to draw inferences about the workings of mental processes.
- The biological approach also makes use of brain scans to make inferences about localisation of brain function. For example, the use of PET scans by Tulving et al. helped to establish that semantic memories were recalled from the left prefrontal cortex, whilst episodic memories were recalled from the right prefrontal cortex.
What are the strengths of the idiographic approach
+ Qualitative data produces an in depth and more complete account of an individual = This may support existing theories or challenge general laws and lead to development of improved psychological theories. For example, the case studies conducted on HM and Clive Wearing demonstrated that different types of long-term memory are located in different areas of the brain. This led to the further research of localisation and memory.
What are the limitations of the idiographic approach
- It offers a narrow and restricted perspective= theories developed from case studies and interviews may struggle to be generalised beyond the individual, thus reducing the ecological validity of these findings. Generalisations cannot be made without further examples to act as a baseline comparison. Idiographic approach does not improve the scientific credibility of psychology.
- The research methods used, such as case studies and unstructured interviews, lack scientific rigour. These methods rely heavily on individual and subjective interpretation. Therefore, conclusions are open to researcher bias, which reduces the reliability of the findings and the extent to which they can be generalised to other individuals.
What are the strengths of the nomothetic approach
+ Highly scientific methods - the nomothetic approach makes use of rms which objectively produce reliable data through adopting standardised conditions and a high level of control of extraneous and confounding variables. Since the findings will not be influenced by researcher bias, the findings have greater scientific creditability due to their method of collection.
+ Enables unifying laws and general principles to be reliably established. Such norms act as a good baseline comparison to the idiographic approach.
+ Nomothetic and idiographic approaches may be complementary to each other, rather than contradictory. Milton and Davis suggest that research should start with a nomothetic approach and once general laws have been produced the focus should switch to an idiographic approach to develop our understanding of theories.
What are the limitations of the nomothetic approach?
- May undervalue the impact of individual experiences = some have criticised the nomothetic approach as ‘losing the whole person’ due to such an emphasis on establishing universal norms and unifying laws of behaviour.
