Idiographic and Nomothetic

• What is the ideographic Approach

  • Studies the individual in detail

  • Looks at what makes people different - believes we are all unique

  • They are Not compared to a larger group of people

  • Avoids making general laws and theories
• What research methods does the ideographic approach use

  • Qualitative

  • Case studies, unstructured interviews, observations

  • Aims to gather rich information about the individual
• What is the Nomothetic Approach

  • Studies lots of people

  • Aims to create laws of behavior of a whole population

  • Aims to control and predict future behavior

  • Tends to follow reductionist and deterministic views
• What research methods does the Nomothetic approach use

  • Study groups

  • Scientific

  • Lab

  • Correlational

  • Statistical analysis

  • Hypothesis are created and tested under controlled conditions
• Behavioral

  Nomothetic

  • Apply cause and effect laws to explain behavior

  • Controlled lab experiments
• Cognitive

  Nomothetic

  • Uses controlled lab experiments and large sample sizes

  • Assumes the same mental processes happen in everyone
• Biological

  Nomothetic

  • very scientific. Behavior is caused by biological structures and processes which are the same for everyone
• Psychodynamic

  Both

  • Nomothetic - stages of development assume to be the same for everyone

  • Ideographic - use of case studies
• Humanism

  Ideographic

  • Unscientific methods e.g interviews,

  • Focuses on the individual and their drive for self-actualisation
• Weakness of the Ideographic approach

  Seen as less scientific due to the qualitative methods used. These methods rely on the subjective interpretation of the researcher
• Weakness of the Ideographic approach

  Few people are studied with this approach which means it is hard to generalise the findings to other people
• Strengths of the Ideographic approach

  The approach focusses on the individual so can give a more detailed and complete explanation of behavior
• Strengths of the Ideographic approach

  Detailed studies of individual cases can help to develop general laws by providing extra information. For example many theories of memory have come about through lab studies combined with more detailed case studies of people who have suffered brain damage
• Strengths of the Nomothetic approach

  Using scientific methodology means that psychologists can establish 'norms' of behavior which gives psychology greater scientific credibility
• Strengths of the Nomothetic approach

  The research methods used are controlled objective and scientific. The theories produced can be scientifically tested