Idiographic Vs Nomothetic

Question 1

Idiographic

Answer 1

• unique insights each individual gives us about human behaviour
• is concerned about individual experience
• qualitative research
• we cannot predict human behaviour

Question 2

Nomothetic

Answer 2

• the study of a large number of people
• seeks to make generalisable laws/theories about human behaviour
• quantitative research
• we can predict human behaviour

Question 3

Idiographic: :) Provides a complete account of the individual person

Answer 3

• e.g. case study of KF helping support the working memory model
• may end up supporting nomothetic research and ultimately develop general laws

Question 4

Idiographic: :( Still difficult to build an understanding of overall human behaviour

Answer 4

• some studies such as case studies may be unscientific and subjective
• many idiographic research also comes from case studies which means we may not know if this occurrence in the pt may have occurred by chance

Question 5

Nomothetic: :) Uses the scientific method

Answer 5

• can be used to establish norms of “typical” behaviour
• given the discipline of psychologists greater scientific credibility
• has been used in treatment to improve the lives of people suffering

Question 6

Nomothetic: :( Ignores individual experiences

Answer 6

• not everyone is the same even though it tries to make universal assumptions

Question 7

Nomothetic: :( Cultural bias

Answer 7

• e.g. IQ testing
• research with imposed etic with the aim of nomothetic research may result in having invalid results for other countries

Question 8

Idiographic: :) Focus on the individual

Answer 8

• Allport: it is only knowing the person as an individual that we can predict what they may do in a situation

Question 9

Nomothetic: :( Losing the person

Answer 9

• due to the approach focusing on producing general laws for the majority, it may be accused of ”losing the whole person”
• e.g. knowing there is a 1% lifetime risk of developing Sz tells us little about the experience of having Sz

Question 10

Idiographic: :) Predictions are still possible

Answer 10

• Allport: a researcher must have extremely detailed observations of few individuals
• :( Hall & Lindzey: this view makes Allport more nomothetic

Question 11

Couldn’t they be used together?

Answer 11

• we are able to consider the same topics from both perspectives to then develop a general understanding
• Million (1995):
  -> when diagnosing personality disorders
  -> clinicians initially use general nomothetic data then focus on the individual