A03 Idiographic And Nomothetic

• Strengths of idiographic approach

  Its in depth qualitative data provides a complete and global account of the individual. This may complement the nomothetic approach by shedding further light on general laws or challenging such laws. A single case may generate hypotheses for further study which may reveal important insights about normal functioning, contributing to our overall understanding.
• Weakness for idiographic approach

  Narrow and restricted nature of work. Freud's work, Oedipus complex, was largely based off one case - Little Hans. Meaningful generalisation can not be made without further examples, as there is no adequate baseline with which to compare behaviour. Methods associated with idiographic tend to be less scientific as conclusions rely on subjective interpretations.
• Strengths of nomothetic approach

  Processes are more scientific with concepts being tested under standardised conditions using data sets and statistical analysis, prediction and control- empiricism. E.g: IQ testing. This enabled psychologists to establish norms of typical behaviour (like IQ average being 100) arguably giving the discipline of psychology greater scientific credibility.
• Weakness of nomothetic approach

  Preoccupation with nomothetic approach on general laws, prediction and control has been accused of 'losing the whole person'. E.g: Knowing that there is a 1% chance of developing schizophrenia tells us little about what life is like who experiences the disorder.
• Subjectivity (Weakness of nomothetic approach)

  Similarly, in lab studies involving tests, ppts are treated like scores rather than individuals and their subjective experiences are ignored due to the approach sometimes overlooking the richness of human experience.
• Complementary rather than contradictory

  Rather than seeing idiographic and nomothetic approaches 'either or' alternatives. It is possible to see topics in psychology from both perspectives depending on the nature of questions. There are attempts to establish general patterns of behaviour sitting alongside case studies. E.g: study of atypical development. This means that the terms idiographic and nomothetic have converged to provide rich detailed descriptions of behaviour but also explain behaviour within the framework of general laws.