Idiographic/Nomothetic

• (AO1) State what the debate is about

  Whether psychology should focus on studying individuals in depth to understand the unique experience (idiographic) or establish general laws and principles that apply to all individuals (nomothetic).
• (AO1) Define the idiographic approach + example

  This attempts to emphasise the individual uniqueness of a person, with their own private beliefs.

  
  

  Two non-experimental methods to capture the richness and detail of an individual can be case studies and interviews, to gather qualitative data.

  
  

  E.g. = The psychodynamic approach is often labelled as idiographic due to Freud’s frequent use of the case study method when dealing with the lives of his patients.
• (AO1) Define the nomothetic approach + example

  This attempts to emphasise general aspects of human behaviour, gaining reliable data on multiple people that can be compared.

  
  

  One example can through scientific methods like lab experiments, to gather quantitative data.

  
  

  E.g. Behaviourist psychologists, such as Skinner, studied responses of hundreds of rats, cats and pigeons in order to develop the laws of learning.
• (AO3) Give a limitation of the idiographic approach

  Point: Has a narrow and restricted nature.

  
  

  Evidence: Those who adopt this approach use associated research methods e.g. case studies, which are the least scientific and heavily reliant on the subjectivity of the researcher. E.g. Frued’s concept of the Oedipus complex – was largely developed from the detailed study of the single case study Little Hans.

  
  

  Evaluate: This means that as there are no adequate baselines for research to be compared to that it lacks falsifiability.
• (AO3) Give a strength of the nomothetic approach

  Point: Research adopting this approach tends to be more scientific, with higher control and thus validity.

  
  

  Evidence: E.g. standardisation of conditions, data, and statistical analysis allows for scientific testing which culminates in identifying ‘typical’ behaviour e.g. the average 1Q is 100.

  
  

  Evaluate: This means that by establishing norms of typical behaviour that psychology has greater scientific credibility.
• (AO3) Give a limitation of the nomothetic approach

  Point: By focusing on general laws, this approach has been accused of losing the uniqueness of human experience.

  Evidence: People are treated as scores and numbers, not individuals. E.g. knowing that there is a 1% risk of suffering from SZ tells us little about what life is like for someone with the disorder.

  Evaluate: This means that, in the search of generalities, the nomothetic approach may sometimes overlook the richness of human behaviour and experience.
• Give conclusion

  The best way to look at these approaches is to take an interactionist approach.

  
  

  First take an idiographic approach to explore behaviour in depth. Then take the information and follow it up with nomothetic approach.

  
  

  This is frequently shown within cognitive psychology.