idiographic and nomothetic

Question 1

what is the idiographic approach?

Answer 1

research that focuses on the individual case as a way of understanding behaviour, rather than trying to establish general laws and principles

Question 2

what are the key ideas of the idiographic approach?

Answer 2

• people are studied uniquely
• no attempt is made to compare the individual to the ‘norm’

Question 3

what methods are used in the idiographic approach?

Answer 3

qualitative data
- case studies
- unstructured interviews

Question 4

what do case studies and unstructured interviews allow?

Answer 4

• all aimed at describing the ‘richness’ of experience
• looking at how individuals view the world
• not generalising findings

Question 5

what are examples of the idiographic approach?

Answer 5

• the psychodynamic approach
• the humanistic approach

Question 6

how is the humanistic approach idiographic?

Answer 6

• focused on the individual
• rogers and maslow took a ‘phenomenological’ approach
• documented the conscious experience of the individual
• used to develop client-centred therapy

Question 7

how is the psychodynamic approach idiographic?

Answer 7

freud used case studies and in-depth interviews to collect qualitative data from little hans

Question 8

what is the nomothetic approach?

Answer 8

the study of humans through general laws and principles

Question 9

what are the key ideas of the nomothetic approach?

Answer 9

uses general laws and principles of behaviour to provide a benchmark that people can be compared to

Question 10

what methods are used in the nomothetic approach?

Answer 10

scientific methods
- lab experiments
- controlled observations
- large samples

Question 11

what do scientific methods allow?

Answer 11

the influence of extraneous and confounding variables are
removed, allowing reliable conclusions to be drawn
- can establish cause and effect relationships

Question 12

what are examples of the nomothetic approach?

Answer 12

• behaviourist approach (skinner)
• the cognitive approach

Question 13

how is the behaviourist approach nomothetic?

Answer 13

skinner studied the response of hundreds of non-human animals, in order to develop laws of learning
- generalises behaviour

Question 14

how is the cognitive approach nomothetic?

Answer 14

uses objective methods of measuring brain activity (EEG, PET scans)
- allowing psychologists to draw inferences about workings of internal mental processes

Question 15

how is the psychodynamic approach both idiographic and nomothetic?

Answer 15

• focuses on individuals (little hans), using qualitative methods
• freud developed psychosexual stages and generalised to everyone

Question 16

give a strength and weakness of the idiographic approach

Answer 16

S: provides a complete ‘global’ account of the individual being studied
W: uses small sample sizes

Question 17

idiographic strength: provides a complete account of individual

Answer 17

ID: qualitative data produces an in-depth and more complete account of an individual being studied
Q: this ensures rich detail is obtained on that case
EV: an example of this, is findings into brain damaged patients, which can reveal insight into overall understanding. such as patient hm who suffered right sided paralysis
AN: this is a strength as using case studies as an experimental methods allows in-depth data, and can lead to further research, such as further research of localisation and memory.

Question 18

idiographic weakness: small sample

Answer 18

ID: a weakness of the idiographic approach is that it offers a narrow and restricted perspective through small samples
Q: theories developed from case
studies and (unstructured) interviews may struggle to be generalised beyond the individual, thus reducing the ecological validity of these findings
EV: for example, the little hans case study had no control subject to compare against
AN: this is a weakness as generalisations cannot be made without further examples to act
as a baseline comparison. this means that the idiographic approach does not improve the scientific credibility of psychology.

Question 19

give a strength and a weakness of the nomothetic approach

Answer 19

S: allows ‘norms’ to be established
W: may undervalue the impact of individual experiences

Question 20

nomothetic strength: scientific

Answer 20

ID: the nomothetic approach uses objective and standardised measures which allow for ‘norms’ of behaviour to be established
Q: this is a strength as it gives psychology scientific credibility and can potentially put psychology on an equal footing with other sciences
EV: for example, knowing what the ‘norms’ of behaviour are is important because it means we can compare this to ‘abnormal’ behaviour. which helps in the diagnosis of mental disorders due to the development of definitions such as ‘deviation from social norms’.
AN: this is a strength as it allows us to create general patterns of behaviour which the idiographic approach cannot do, due to such small samples being used and having no baseline to compare against.

Question 21

nomothetic weakness: may undervalue the impact of individual experiences

Answer 21

ID: may undervalue the impact of individual experiences
Q: some have criticised the nomothetic approach as ‘losing the whole person’ in psychology due to such an emphasis on establishing universal norms and unifying laws of behaviour.
EV: for example, research into the frequency of depression or bipolar disorder tells us little about the experiences of sufferers and so little about what treatments may be most beneficial.
AN: therefore, the nomothetic approach, from this standpoint, has done little to improve people’s lives in
comparison to the idiographic approach.