Lesson 6: Idiographic And Nomothetic Approaches To Psychological Investigation

Question 1

Idiographic approach

Answer 1

• involved the study of individuals and the unique insights each individual provides. The idiographic approach is qualitative because the focus is on studying unique individuals in depth rather than gaining numerical data from many individuals and determining average characteristics. The focus is on quality of information rather than quantity. It is also qualitative because it employs qualitative methods such as unstructured interviews and case studies.

Question 2

Psychodynamic approach (idiographic)

Answer 2

• seen as idiographic. Sigmund Freud used case studies of his patients as a way to understand human behaviour, such as the case study of Little Hans. This case consists of almost 150 pages of verbatim quotes recorded by Little Hans’ father and description of events in Little Hans’ life, as well as Freud’s interpretation of these quotes and events (Freud 1909). Freud did make generalisations based on his case studies but these are still idiographic because they are drawn from information gathered from unique individuals.

Question 3

Humanistic approach (idiographic)

Answer 3

• humanistic approach also idiographic. Humanistic psychologists favour the idiographic approach because they are concerned with studying the whole person and seeing the world from the perspective of that person. What matters is the person’s subjective experience and not what someone else might observe of their behaviour.

Question 4

Nomothetic approach

Answer 4

• involves the study of a large representative sample ideally selected using random sampling, in order to collect a large amount of data to support a testable hypothesis. The approach seeks to formulate general laws of behaviour that apply to everyone, this is also the goal of the scientific approach in Psychology. The nomothetic approach favours quantitative research methods that are based on numbers, dispersion, measures of central tendency etc. such calculations require dtaa from a large group of people rather than individuals. Research studies may involve as few as 20 people but normative research, such as establishing the norms for IQ tests, involves thousands of people.

Question 5

Biological approach (nomothetic)

Answer 5

• seeks to portray the basic principles of how the body and brain work. In the past they have made the mistake of only studying men and assuming that their findings can be generalised to women e.g the fight or flight response.

Question 6

Behaviourist approach (nomothetic)

Answer 6

• produces general laws of human behaviour. Behaviourist research may not have involved thousands of human participants, but they were seeking one set of rules for all human and non-human animals.

Question 7

Cognitive approach (nomothetic)

Answer 7

• nomothetic in its aim to develop general laws of behaviour which apply to all people, such as understanding memory processes. The cognitive approach does use case studies, such as HM and KF, but these are required because in order to understand the working of a normal mind it is often necessary to look at abnormal cues.

Question 8

Strengths of idiographic approach

Answer 8

+ The strength of the idiographic approach is that it provides rich and in-depth information about single cases which the nomothetic approach is not able to do. All port (1961) maintained that it is only by knowing a person as an individual that we can predict what they will do in any given situation.

+ Furthermore, the case study method is a powerful tool for evaluation psychological theories. The case of Patient KF exposed a limitation of the multi-store model of memory by providing evidence that our STM comprises of at least two components and not one. Consequently, a single case study can generate further research into a particular phenomenon, which contributes to the development of new theories that further our understanding of human behaviour.

Question 9

Weaknesses of the idiographic approach

Answer 9

• idiographic approach is unable to produce general laws or predictions about human behaviour, and that severely limits its usefulness as a source of practical knowledge about the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders. For a discipline so dedicated to the application of its scientific understanding, this is a devastating limitation.
• Psychologists criticise the idiographic approach for its essentially unscientific nature. The emphasis on in-depth data collection and the difficulties in arriving at justifiable generalisations contradicts the central purpose of any mature science: to explain the most variation in the fewest possible terms so that any phenomena can be predicted and ultimately controlled. Research practices that do not address these goals can seem scientifically pointless.
• Another weakness of the idiographic approach is the use of case studies since while case studies can highlight a flaw in psychological theories and can prompt further research, the case study method is extremely time consuming.

Question 10

Strengths of the nomothetic approach

Answer 10

+ Unlike the idiographic approach, the nomothetic approach is considered as generally scientific. The use of experimental methods, controlled measurement and the ability to predict behaviour are all seen as strengths of the nomothetic approach. Furthermore, controlled methods allow for replication to examine the reliability of findings which has helped psychology establish itself as a scientific discipline. The development of theories and empirical testing are just one of they key features of a science that are employed by the nomothetic approach.

• the nomothetic approach is useful for predicting and controlling behaviour. For example, biological psychologists take a nomothetic approach when explaining obsessive compulsive disorder and claim that OCD is caused by higher levels of dopamine and lower levels of serotonin. Drug therapies are developed on the basic of nomothetic research and work by redressing a biological imbalance. SSRIs are used to treat OCD and increase the availability and uptake of serotonin, thus reducing the anxiety associated with OCD, which helps to improve the lives of people suffering from this condition.

Question 11

Weakness of the nomothetic approach

Answer 11

• one issue is the problem of generalisation. For example, when treating patients with depression they tend to be prescribed anti-depressants. However, anti-depressants are not successful for all patients, some psychologists argue that cognitive behavioural therapy which is based on the idiographic approach m is more suitable for treating individuals with such conditions as they seek to understand and explain the disorder for the patient’s perspective.
• furthermore, some psychologists argue that the nomothetic approach loses sight of the ‘whole person’ due to its fixation on quantitative data and statistical analysis. Furthermore, these psychologists also claim that the nomothetic approaches only provide a superficial understanding of human behaviour. For example, Milgram’s research found that 65% of participants obeyed an authority figure and inflicted a 450 volt electric shock because they were ordered to do so. However the results fail to produce an explanation of why each person obeyed, and there may have been very different circumstances that led to the obedience found in each participant.