Idiographic and nomothetic Approaches

• Another approach is to use meta-analysis, which involves combining the results from multiple studies on the same topic to increase statistical power and reduce bias.
• One way to address this issue is through peer review, where other researchers evaluate the validity and reliability of the findings.
• The issue is that the researcher's own beliefs can influence their interpretation of data, leading to biased results.
• Idiographic approach


  A method of investigating behaviour which focuses on individuals and emphasises their uniqueness. Subjective and rich human experience is used as a way of explaining behaviour, without the aim of developing general principles and unifying laws
• Idiographic approach


  • Associated with methods that produce qualitative data
  • Studying the individual and not groups and therefore not generalising findings to others
• Idiographic approach

  • The psychodynamic approach: Freud used case studies and in-depth interviews to collect qualitative data from Little Hans
  • The humanistic approach adopts a holistic and 'phenomenological' approach to research, which focuses on the experience of the individual
• Nomothetic approach

  Seeks to formulate general laws of behaviour based on the study of groups and the use of statistical, quantitive techniques. It attempts to summarise the differences between people through generalisations, whilst developing general laws and unifying principles which can be used to accurately predict and control behaviour
• Nomothetic approach

  • Associated with the scientific method such as laboratory experiments and controlled observations, where the influence of extraneous and confounding variables are removed, allowing reliable conclusions to be drawn
• Nomothetic approach

  • Behaviourists explain all behaviour in terms of simple stimulus-response links which have been learnt through experience
  • The cognitive approach uses objective methods of measuring brain activity, such as EEG and PET scans
  • The biological approach also makes use of brain scans to make inferences about localisation of brain function