Idiographic and nomothetic

Cards (10)

What is an idiographic approach?
Individual
People are seen as unique and are not compared to others
What is a nomothetic approach?
Making general laws to compare people to
What methods do idiographic approaches use?
Qualitative
What approaches do nomothetic approaches use?
Quantitative
What is an example of an idiographic approach?
The humanistic approach
What is an example of a nomothetic approach?
The biological approach
The behaviourist approach
The cognitive approach
What is a strength of an idiographic approach? 
May lead to improvement of theories
What is a weakness of the idiographic approach?
Unscientific and based on subjective interpretation
What are some strengths of a nomothetic approach?
Scientific
Leads to development of treatment
What are some weaknesses of a nomothetic approach?
Too focused on general laws and loses sight of subjective experience
Doesn’t apply to all people