The idiographic vs nomothetic approach to psychological investigation Flashcards
This debate concerns whether its more important to …
look at an individual as unique or to look at the individual as part of a group to try and establish similarities in the group
Make 3 points explaining what an idiographic approach is focused on
-it focuses on the uniqueness of an individual case when explaining and studying behaviour
-there is no attempt to compare this individual to a larger group
-its irrelevant to develop general laws of behaviour
Name the approach that uses a idiographic approach
What type of research method is best suited to an idiographic approach?
humanistic approach
qualitative methods
Make 2 points explaining what a nomothetic approach focuses on
-focuses on drawing conclusions about populations of people and generalising from samples to wider groups of people
-involves studying a sample to formulate general laws and principles of behaviour
What approach uses a nomothetic approach?
What type of research method is best suited to a nomothetic approach?
the biological approach
quantitative methods such as experiments
Give 3 reasons why a nomothetic approach is considered more scientific than an idiographic approach
-it uses objective and empirical methods to test hypotheses
-methods are more replicable
-samples are larger so findings can be more easily generalised to wider populations
Give one strength and two weaknesses of using an idiographic approach
+use of in depth qualitative methods , this provides a detailed account of the individual which can be used to complement the nomothetic approach by providing evidence to support or contradict general laws
-narrow and restricted research , it focuses only on the individual which means meaningful generalisations can’t always be made
-use of qualitative methods , they tend to be more subjective and less scientific meaning conclusions are more open to researcher bias
Give one strength and one weakness of using a nomothetic approach
+research tends to be more scientific , it uses controlled methods and standardised procedures to predict behaviour which allows psychologists to establish norms of typica; behaviour and has also given psych greater scientific credibility
-too focused on general laws , for example it tells us there is a 1% prevelance rate for SZ but it doesn’t give any detail on patients feelings , meaning it ignores many important aspects
What evidence is there to support the nomothetic approach?
+led to the development of drug therapies for schizophrenia
the general law for the cause of schizophrenia is that its due to imbalance of dopamine , having a nomothetic approach to the cause of schizophrenia has led to drugs being developed , suggesting the approach is appropriate for explaining behaviour
Evaluate the effectiveness of drugs for SZ , referring to the nomothetic approach
1 positive point and 1 negative point
+typical APs have been found to be successful for 70% of patients , suggesting the nomothetic approach has external validity and is an appropriate approach
-not all patients were helped by drugs , suggesting the approach is incomplete and that individual experiences should be considered
