Idiographic vs Nomothetic

• Idiographic - Psychologists who adopt this approach focus on the individual and their experiences.
• Nomothetic - Psychologists who adopt this approach are interested in studying the general laws that apply to all people, rather than individuals
• Idios - greek for individual
• Nomos - greek for everyone
• Idiographic Characteristics:

  • Qualitative methods
  • Case studies
  • Unstructured interviews/ open questionnaire
  • Thematic Analysis
• Nomothetic Characteristics:

  • Quantitive data
  • Lab experiments
  • correlational research