Idiographic and Nomothetic

• What does the term "idiographic" refer to in psychology?

  It explains the nature of individuals.
• How does the idiographic approach view individuals?

  As unique entities with subjective experiences.
• What type of data is typically produced by idiographic methods?

  Qualitative data describing human experience.
• What is the definition of "nomothetic" in psychology?

  Aims to produce general laws of human behavior.
• What is the purpose of nomothetic research?

  To classify and compare human behavior.
• Why is objectivity important in nomothetic research?

  To ensure replication of findings.
• What type of research methods are most associated with the nomothetic approach?

  Scientific methods and quantitative research.
• IvsN AO3 - Understanding (for I)

  • Provides a complete and global account of the individual
  • This is due to its use of in-depth qualitative methods of investigation
  • This complements the nomothetic approach as it sheds further light on general laws or even challenging these laws
  • For example, a single case may generate hypotheses for further study (like in the case of KF which helped investigate the understanding of different types of STM).
  • This increases the validity of the idiographic approach as it increases our understanding of individual human behaviour
• IvsN AO3 - Restrictive (against I)

  • Ex. with Freud, one criticism is that some of his key concepts such as the Oedipus complex have been developed from one case study
  • Meaningful generalisations cannot be made without further examples - is no adequate baseline to compare behaviour with
  • Methods associated with the idiographic approach such as case studies tend to be the least scientific since they rely a lot on the interpretation of the researcher
  • This decreases the validity of the idiographic approach as it relies a lot on interpretation which is subjective and therefore not as scientific
• IvsN AO3 - Scientific (for N)

  • Processes involved tend to be more scientific, such as the use of standardised conditions, using data sets that provide group averages and statistical analysis
  • These processes have allowed psychologists to establish norms of typical behaviour
  • Enables psychologists to easily establish norms/general laws which can be used for comparison and predictions
  • This increases the validity of the nomothetic approach since it has given the discipline of psychology greater scientific credibility so has implications in psychology and society
• IvsN AO3 - Loss of meaning (against N)

  • Been accused of 'losing the whole person' within psychology
  • This means it may undervalue the impact of individual experiences and aspects as it ignores important subjective experiences
  • In addition the methods used can be criticised as lacking ecological validity and mundane realism as they may not accurately reflect real life behaviour so conclusions may lack validity
  • Nomothetic approach may ignore/overlook the richness of human experience
  • Ex. Behaviourist approach principle of stimulus-response generalised to everyone ignores emotions
• IvsN AO3 - Combination approach

  • Behaviours and issues should be considered from both perspectives
  • Millon and Davis - suggest that research should start with a nomothetic approach and once general laws have been produced the focus should switch to an idiographic approach to develop understanding and theories
  • As well as trying to establish general patterns and theories of behaviour we must also consider individual case studies as these can enhance/develop theories