idiographic and nomothetic

• idiographic

  an approach to research that focuses more on the individual case as a means of understanding behaviour,rather than aiming to formulate general laws.
• idiographic

  -Subjective experiences.

  -qualitative data (case studies,unstructured interviews,self-report measures)

  E.g.humanistic approach (conscious experience of the individual) and psychodynamic approach(used case study method)

  -data is unreliable
• nomothetic

  -an approach that attempts to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws.

  -allows comparison,classification

  -allows behaviour to be predicted/or controlled

  -scientific methods

  -quantitative data
• nomothetic - makes generalisations to wider population