2.5: Idiographic and nomothetic approaches to psychological investigation

Question 1

A prison psychologist used an idiographic approach to study offending. He asked two offenders to record their thoughts about their childhood and their offending behaviour in a journal over a period of four weeks.

Qualitative analysis of the journals showed that the offenders often thought about sad childhood events and believed that their childhood experiences had influenced their offending.

Findings from idiographic research like the study described above are often used as a basis for other investigations.

Explain how the researcher might develop the above investigation through taking a nomothetic approach (6 marks)

Answer 1

1. Taking a nomothetic approach would involve the researcher testing a larger sample of offenders
2. Sampling should involve a method of sample selection to give representativeness of a larger population, for example random sampling of the prison population
3. The researcher would probably use a testable hypothesis, for example violent offenders have more negative thoughts about childhood than non-violent offenders
4. Taking a nomothetic approach would involve collection of a large amount of data
5. Analysis would probably involve quantitative methods, for example statistical testing and the drawing of conclusions in relation to a wider population
6. Credit also comparison of the worth of idiographic and nomothetic approaches, for example how idiographic investigations yield information that is rich, in-depth (journals inform about the precise nature of the negative thoughts enabling greater insight), whereas nomothetic investigations enable the formulation of general laws, for example offenders have a more negative view of their childhood