Issues And Debates: Idiographic And Nomothetic Flashcards

1
Q

What Is The Idiographic Approach?

A
  • Focuses on the individual and emphasises the unique, personal experience humans have.
  • People are studied independently, and their own experiences, motivations and values considered.
  • No laws are formulated using this approach or generalisations to others made.
  • Usually no attempt is made to compare individuals to larger groups, standards or norms.
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2
Q

What Methods Do The Idiographic Approach Use?

A

-Qualitative research methods such as case studies, unstructured interviews and thematic analyse are favoured.
- This allows an in-depth insight into human behaviour and allows the richness of human experience to be described from a unique point of view.

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3
Q

Example Of An Approach Which Use Idiographic Approach.

A
  • The humanistic approach is an example.
  • Rogers and Maslow were only interested in documenting the conscious experience of the individual or self.
  • It is anti-scientific wanting to look at unique experiences rather than creating general laws of behaviour.
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4
Q

What Is The Nomothetic Approach?

A
  • The nomothetic approach wants to establish general laws based on the study of large groups of people using statistical techniques to analyse data.
  • The general laws provide a benchmark against which people can be compared, classified and measured.
  • This allows future behaviour to be predicted and controlled
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5
Q

What Methods Do The Nomothetic Approach Use?

A
  • Quantitative methods such as experiments, correlations and psychometric testing are favoured by nomothetic researchers.
  • Methods are regarded as scientific.
  • They involve large numbers of people to establish ways in which people are similar and different from each other.
  • This approach is the main approach within scientifically orientated psychology.
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6
Q

Examples Of An Approach Which Use Idiographic Approach.

A
  • Behaviourism: the response of rats was used to develop the laws of learning.
  • Cognitive psychologists infer the structure and process of human memory by looking at large numbers of people completing lab experiments.
  • The biological approach looks at brain scans to make generalisations about localisation of function.
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7
Q

Idiographic And Nomothetic Approach Overlap.

A
  • Psychodynamic is idiographic as case studies were used to detail people’s lives.
  • However, universal laws such as personality development and the psycho-sexual stages were also developed which fits with the nomothetic approach.
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8
Q

Evaluation: Idiographic Approach.

A
  • The idiographic approach can complement the nomothetic approach by providing support or challenging general laws of behaviour.
  • For example, the study of KF showed that there was two types of STM, challenging the MSM which said it was a unitary store.
  • However, the ideographic approach uses unscientific methods to find in-depth information about an individual, e.g. case studies.
  • The methods tend not to be scientific, so the conclusions that are drawn regarding individuals often rely on subjective interpretation of the researcher so they are open to bias.
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9
Q

Evaluation: Nomothetic Approach.

A
  • Nomothetic research tends to be more scientific as testing is done under standardised conditions, where statistical analysis can occur, and prediction and control are used.
  • For example, when testing for IQ, psychologists have established that the average IQ is 100 and that the normal range for IQ is between 70 and 130.
  • However, the pre-occupation to focus on general laws and predicting and controlling behaviour can mean that the whole person is lost.
  • Knowing that there is a 1% probability that someone will develop schizophrenia does not tell us what is like to suffer from the illness.
  • This means that the richness of human experience is overlooked.
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10
Q

Evaluation: Nomothetic And Idiographic Approach.

A
  • Rather than seeing idiographic and nomothetic approaches as mutually exclusive, it is possible to consider the issue from both perspectives.
  • For example, Schaffer’s stages of attachment are nomothetic suggesting that all children go through the stages in the same order.
  • But, Bowlby’s 44 thieves study is idiographic as it was based on a series of detailed case studies showing what can happen during early development.
  • Considering both approaches together will provide a rich, detailed descriptions of human behaviour as well as the explanation of such behaviour within the framework of general laws.
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