Idiographic and nomothetic

• Nomoethic adv

  • generalisation : data is easier to replicate , gather precisely and an statistics allowing psychologists to be more confident in generalising findings - taking a scientific approach
  • objective measurements : subjective bias is reduced through standardised methods and measurements
• Nomothetic disadv

  • Misrepresentation : general trends may not accurately represent every individual in a group
  • superficial : fixed criteria do not give a complete picture of the individual- two people with depression diagnosis may have different experiences
• idiographic adv

  • rich , detailed data : level of detailed information collected is argued to provide a more valid perspective on human behaviour
  • hypothesis generation : unusual cases can provide new areas of research and overturn incorrect theories even though they are not generalisable
• Idiographic disadv

  • time consuming: due to depth and detail idiographic research can be a long process
  • subjectivity / bias : the intensive data collection can result in researcher losing objectivity when interpreting the data
• Integrative approach

  • using both an idiographic and nomothetic method allows researchers to combine the strengths of each providing a holistic understanding of behaviour
  • eg general trends identified by nomothetic approach and using an ideographic approach to explore trends in individuals
• idiographic AO1


  • describes nature of individual
  • people studied as unique entities with their own subjective experiences , norms + values
  • no attempt to make it apply to larger groups
  • case studies , unstructured int , self report studies
  • eg humanistic + psychodynamic
  • humanistic - investigates human unique experiences than producing general behaviour laws
• nomothetic AO1


  • produces general law on human behaviour
  • provide 'benchmark' against which people can be compared, classified and measured against
  • normally reductionist and determinist approaches eg behaviourist , cognitive , biological .
  • behaviour - skinners rat to develop laws of learning
  • cognitive - measuring performance of humans to develop memory laws
  • biological - brain scans for laws of localisation of brain