issues and debates - idiographic + nomothetic Flashcards

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1
Q

what does idiographic approach focus on

A

the individual and emphasises the unique, personal experience humans have

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2
Q

how is the idiographic approach demonstrated

A

People are studied independently,

No laws are formulated using this approach or generalisations to others made.

Usually no attempt is made to compare individuals to larger groups, standards or norms

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3
Q

what research methods are idiographic

A

Qualitative research methods such as case studies, unstructured interviews and thematic analysis
-> allows an in-depth insight into human behaviour from a unique point of view.

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4
Q

what are examples of the idiographic approach

A

The humanistic approach is an example.

Rogers and Maslow were only interested in documenting the conscious experience of the individual or self
avoided general laws because humanism -> antiscientific

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5
Q

what does the nomothetic approach want to establish and why ?

A

general laws based on the study of large groups of people using statistical techniques to analyse data.

because ->provide a benchmark against which people can be classified and measured. This allows future behaviour to be predicted and controlled.

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6
Q

what nomothetic research methods are there

A

Quantitative methods such as experiments, correlations and psychometric testing are favoured by nomothetic researchers
-> regarded as scientific

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7
Q

what is an example of nomothetic approach

A

. Cognitive psychologists infer the structure and process of human memory by looking at large numbers of people completing lab experiments.

The biological approach looks at brain scans to make generalisations about localisation of function.

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8
Q

what is an example of where idiographic or nomothetic approaches overlap

A

psychodynamic
case studies -> idiographic
universal laws such as personality development and the psycho-sexual stages -> nomothetic

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9
Q

strength + weakness for idiographic approach

A

The idiographic approach can complement the nomothetic approach by providing support or challenging general laws of behaviour

eg -> individualised case study of KF -> showed two different types of short-term memory, challenging the multi-store model which said that it was a unitary store.

the idiographic approach uses unscientific methods to find out in-depth information about an individual -> case studies

conclusions likely to be subjective + bias as they require interpretation of researcher

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10
Q

strength + weakness of nomothetic approach

A

point -> Nomothetic research tends to be more scientific as: testing is under standardised conditions and more controlled, use of quantitive methods

evidence-> using nomothetic + scientific approaches
eg experiments - psychologists have established that the average IQ is 100 and that the normal range for IQ is between 70 and 130.

counter argument -> focusing entirely on general laws and predicting and controlling behaviour can mean that the whole person is lost.

explanation -> a 1% probability that someone will develop schizophrenia does not tell us what it is like to suffer from the illness. This means that the richness of human experience is overlooked.

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11
Q

strength of both approaches (NOT mutually exclusive)

A

, it is possible to consider the issue from both perspectives.

eg - , Shaffer’s stages of attachment -> nomothetic, suggest that all children go through the stages in the same order.
Bowlby’s 44 thieves study -> idiographic because used series of detailed case studies showing what can happen during early development.

considering both approaches -> detailed descriptions of human behaviour + explanation for behaviour within framework of general laws

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