idiographic vs nomothetic

• what is nomothetic?


  classifies people into groups based on general laws
• what is idiographic?


  focuses on individual differences and experiences
• which approaches are nomothetic?

  biological, behaviourist, social learning theory
• which approach is idiographic?

  humanistic
• which approaches are a mix of idiographic and nomothetic?

  cognitive & psychodynamic
• why is the biological approach nomothetic?

  suggests humans store similar physiology and we can make universal laws. lab experiments generate qualitative data, making generalisations
• why is the behaviourist approach nomothetic?

  creates generalisations of behaviour (stimulus response) and uses lab experiments to generate quantitative data, making generalisations
• why is the social learning theory nomothetic?

  establishes general laws of behaviour eg though imitation and uses lab experiments to generate quantitative data to make generalisations
• why is the cognitive approach nomothetic and idiographic?

  establishes general laws of cognitive processing but case studies are sometimes used
• why is the psychodynamic approach nomothetic and idiographic?

  creates general laws about innate drives but also takes into account unquote experiences of early childhood
• why is the humanist approach idiographic?


  only approach to focus on subjective human experiences and makes no attempt to generalise