idiographic vs nomothetic- ISSUES AND DEBATES Flashcards
AO1- idiographic
- individual studied as a unique entity with their own subjective experiences
- no attempt made to compare them to a larger group, standard or norm
-associated with methods that produce qualitative data
- aim is to gain an insight into an individual’s unique way of viewing the world
Examples of idiographic approaches
HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY=
- interested in documenting the conscious experiences of an individual, rather than creating general laws of behaviour
PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH=
- Freud’s work considered idiographic due to use of case study method when detailing the lives of his patients eg Little Hans
—–> however Freud assumed he’d identified universal laws of behaviour which is more akin to the nomothetic approach
AO3- strengths of idiographic approach
- use of qualitative methods provides a more universal understanding of an individual
AO3- limitations of idiographic approach
- can’t generalise findings from one person to anyone else
- Freud has been criticised of creating universal laws from limited and unrepresentative samples
- Idiographic techniques are unreliable and unscientific as they are based on the subjective interpretation of the researcher
AO1- what’s the nomothetic approach?
- study large groups of people to identify universal laws of human behaviour
- provide a ‘benchmark’ against which people can be compared, classified and measured
- can predict future behaviour
- associated with scientific methods, like studied involving large groups of people to find similarities between people.
Examples of the nomothetic approach
BEHAVIOURISM=
- carried out and replicated lots of studies before establishing their general laws of learning
- studies on rats and pigeons but because they believed learning was universal they applied this to humans.
BIOLOGICAL=
- biological psychologists have carried out many brain scans in order to establish general laws of functioning
AO3- strengths of nomothetic approach
- very scientific
- personality questionnaires and mental health classification manuals have proved useful in the selection of personnel and the treatment and diagnosis of disorders. PRACTICAL APPLICATION.
- enables us to predict how people will behave e.g., Zimbardo’s findings about how prisoners and guards react in a prison environment.
AO3- limitations of nomothetic approach
- Predictions can be made about groups, but these may not apply to individuals. Generalisations may be too inaccurate for the individual.
- gives a superficial understanding of any one person
- The approach has been accused of losing sight of the ‘whole person.’
If asked to relate idiographic-nomothetic debate to 2 other topics…
- SCHIZOPHRENIA ( classification systems- DSM and ICD)
- MEMORY ( idiographic eg case of HM, nomothetic studies like divers and rugby players)