Issues and Debates- Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches Flashcards
What is the Idiographic Approach?
Sees individual as unique, each with their own subjective experiences, motivations, values.
Generally associated with methods that produce qualitative data e.g. case studies, self-reports.
What is the Aim of the Idiographic Approach?
To gain an insight into person’s unique way of viewing the world.
Examples of the Idiographic Approach: Humanistic Approach
Rogers and Maslow were interested in documenting conscious experience of the self.
they describe themselves as ‘anti-scientific’ and are concerned about unique experience of individual rather than creating ‘general laws of behaviour.’
Examples of the Idiographic Approach: Psychodynamic Approach
Much of Freud’s work involved the use of case study method.
However, he assumed he identified ‘universal laws’ of behaviour and personality development, more nomothetic approach.
What’s the Aim of the Nomothetic Approach?
To produce general laws of human behaviour.
Mainly will be associated with methods that produce large amounts of quantitative data and are scientific within psychology.
What Does the Nomothetic Approach Involve?
Involve the study of large samples of people representative of the population to establish the ways we’re similar and different from one another.
Approach often uses sampling methods e.g. random sampling, to give a more representative sample.
Examples of the Nomothetic Approach
- Approaches that are reductionist, deterministic and employ scientific methods, hypothesis created, usually tested under controlled conditions and findings are generated.
- Research carried out by behaviourist, cognitive, biological psychologists would meet criteria of nomothetic approach e.g. Skinner studied responses of rats in order to develop laws in learning.
AO3: Idiographic Approach: Lack of Scientific Methods
P: Approaches lack internal validity due to absence of scientific methods.
E: Idiographic methods use methods such as case studies and self-reports, tend to be subjective and open to bias.
E: Unlike nomothetic approach which uses objective and empirical methods such as lab experiments to collect data on human behaviour.
L: Can lower credibility of idiographic approach in comparison to nomothetic approach, may be more respected by scientists and general public due to factual and scientific nature.
AO3: Idiographic Approach: Strength
P: Uses in-depth qualitative methods that provide rich data.
E: Because it just focuses on the individual and their unique experience e.g. Clive Wearing case study gave valuable insight into brain damaged individuals, supporting how memory has separate stores.
E: Unlike nomothetic approach which use large samples, therefore can’t find out in-depth/ rich information about single cases.
L: Suggests idiographic approach is a more effective approach for helping us understand reasons behind human behaviour.
AO3: General
P: Argued that because nomothetic approach uses large samples, this allows us to create general laws of human behaviour, rather than seeing approaches as ‘alternatives’ to eachother, might be better to study and explain human behaviour using both approaches.
E: e.g. memory studies into coding, capacity, duration of STM/ LTM been carried out to attempt to establish general patterns of individuals memory (nomothetic)
E: But many case study examples e.g. Clive Wearing (idiographic) which provides detailed information about memory functions.
L: Goal of modern psychology should be to use both approaches in order to provide detailed, rich descriptions of human behaviour.
