Nomothetic and idiographic appro - debates

• Define the idiographic and nomothetic debate.

  The idiographic and nomothetic de bate argues whether we should study human behaviour by focusing on individuals as unique beings (idiographic) or whether we should study large groups to establish general laws (nomothetic).
• Outline the idiographic approach to psychological investigation.

  The idiographic approach studies individuals without aiming to establish general laws. It involves small samples or single cases, collecting in-depth qualitative data (e.g., interviews). Data is analyzed using methods like thematic analysis, with conclusions drawn without generalizing to the wider population. Common methods include case studies and interviews.
• Outline examples of idiographic research in Psychology.

  • CBT is an idiographic treatment as it is tailored to the patient’s irrational beliefs. This is because CBT involves identifying the clients’ unique patterns of irrational thinking and challenging these through customised disputing.
  • Humanistic psychology takes an idiographic approach to investigation. This is because they are concerned with studying the whole person as a unique individual. This means that humanistic psychologists have relied upon idiographic methods such as interviews and case studies to collect their data.
• Outline the nomothetic approach to psychological investigation.

  The nomothetic approach studies large samples to establish general laws of behavior applicable to broad groups. It uses representative, non-biased sampling (e.g., random, systematic, or stratified). The researcher tests a hypothesis, gathers quantitative data, and analyzes it using statistics. Conclusions are then generalized to the wider population. Common methods include experiments, observations, and questionnaires.
• Social psychologists have used a nomothetic approach to investigation. - example of nomothetic research

  For example, conformity and obedience studies have utilised large samples in experimental research to gather quantitative data about conformity and obedience rates. Such conformity research has generated nomothetic conclusions that people conform due to normative and/or informational social influence. Meanwhile, obedience research has generated nomothetic conclusions that people obey due to entering the agentic state or recognizing an individual’s legitimate authority.
• Cognitive psychologists have used nomothetic approaches to investigation. - nomothetic research

  E.g. researchers studying memory have used large samples in experimental research to gather quantitative data about the capacity and duration of memories. Such research also led to nomothetic conclusions being drawn e.g. the multi-store model of memory which proposes that everyone’s STM is limited to a capacity of 7+/-2 while the duration lasts between 18-30 seconds.
• A strength of the idiographic approach over the nomothetic approach is that it results in more detailed data.

  This is because idiographic studies gather qualitative data (non-numerical, descriptive data) whereas nomothetic studies gather quantitative (numerical) data. This is a strength of idiographic approaches over nomothetic approaches because more detailed data means that any conclusions drawn are more likely to be valid. Therefore adds credibility to idiographic over nomothetic approaches.
• strength of idiographic appr. over nomothetic appr. - resulted in more effective treatments.

  strength of idiographic appr. over the nomothetic approach is that it often leads to more effective treatments. Since idiographic studies focus on individuals, treatments are tailored to specific cases, making them more effective. nomothetic studies focus on mass groups and general theories, leading to treatments like drug therapies that may not be effective for everyone. In fact, nomothetic drug therapies are effective for only about 50% of the population, adding cred to the idiographic appr.
• A strength of the nomothetic approach over the idiographic approach is that it is more scientific.

  This is because nomothetic research analyses quantitative data whereas idiographic research analyses qualitative data. This is a strength of nomothetic over idiographic approaches because quantitative/numerical data does not require subjective interpretation whereas qualitative/descriptive data does. This makes nomothetic research more objective. Therefore adds credibility to nomothetic over idiographic approaches.
• strength of the nomothetic approach over the idiographic approach is that it results in more positive applications within society.

  This is because nomothetic research intends to develop universal laws such as how behaviourist research led to the universal laws of learning known as classical and operant conditioning
• idiographic research does not intend to develop universal laws as it is more focused on individuals and their unique cases.

  This is a strength of nomothetic over idiographic approaches because it means that nomothetic research is better able to predict and modify human behaviour (e.g. how token economies have been used to modify behaviour based on the universal law of operant conditioning). Therefore adds credibility to nomothetic over idiographic approaches.
• Discuss idiographic+nomotheic appr - outline

  The idiographic approach focuses on studying individuals, using small samples and qualitative data (e.g., interviews), without generalizing findings to the wider population. In contrast, the nomothetic approach uses large, representative samples, gathers quantitative data, and aims to generalize conclusions to broader groups. Idiographic methods include case studies and interviews, while nomothetic methods include experiments, observations, and surveys.
• strength of the idiographic approach over the nomothetic approach is that it results in more detailed data.

  This is because idiographic studies gather qualitative data (non-numerical, descriptive data) whereas nomothetic studies gather quantitative (numerical) data. This is a strength of idiographic approaches over nomothetic approaches because more detailed data means that any conclusions drawn are more likely to be valid. Therefore adds credibility to idiographic over nomothetic approaches.
• Another strength of the idiographic approach over the nomothetic approach is that it has typically resulted in more effective treatments.

  This is because idiographic studies focus on individuals whereas nomothetic studies focus on mass groups and establishing general theories. This is a strength of idiographic over nomothetic approaches because it means that treatments developed out of idiographic research are more likely to be tailored to individual cases and therefore more effective.
• In contrast, treatments developed out of nomothetic research will be general (e.g. drug therapies) that are not tailored/effective for every individual’s unique case.

  Indeed, nomothetic drug therapies are only found to be effective in approximately 50% of the population. Therefore adds credibility to idiographic over nomothetic approaches.
• strength of the nomothetic approach over the idiographic approach is that it is more scientific.

  This is because nomothetic research analyses quantitative data whereas idiographic research analyses qualitative data. This is a strength of nomothetic over idiographic approaches because quantitative/numerical data does not require subjective interpretation whereas qualitative/descriptive data does. This makes nomothetic research more objective. Therefore adds credibility to nomothetic over idiographic approaches.
• Another strength of the nomothetic approach over the idiographic approach is that it results in more positive applications within society.

  This is because nomothetic research intends to develop universal laws such as how behaviourist research led to the universal laws of learning known as classical and operant conditioning.
• idiographic research does not intend to develop universal laws as it is more focused on individuals and their unique cases.

  This is a strength of nomothetic over idiographic approaches because it means that nomothetic research is better able to predict and modify human behaviour (e.g. how token economies have been used to modify behaviour based on the universal law of operant conditioning). Therefore adds credibility to nomothetic over idiographic approaches.