Idiographic - Nomothetic

• The idiographic approach suggests that psychology should be the study of individuals because by obtaining lots of detailed info about individual/group, we can understand human behaviour better.

  The nomothetic approach suggests that psychology should be the study of large and varied groups to make generalisations about what is typical in different aspects of human behaviour i.e. establishing norms. This debate has implications for the types of research method psychologists use.

  These approaches may overlap and have their place within a scientific study of a person.
• Idiographic approach – derived from the Greek ‘idios’ meaning private or personal. An approach to research that focuses more on the individual case as a means of understanding behaviour rather than aiming to formulate general laws of behaviour (psychodynamic approach & humanistic approach)
• Nomothetic approach – derived from the Greek ‘nomos’ meaning law. The nomothetic approach aims to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws.
• The number of participants in idiographic research is small, often a single case (single individual/group/institution). Some research might include information about family, friends or other, but the focus is on detail.

  People are studied as unique entities with their own subjective experiences, motivations and values. There is no attempt to compare these to a larger group standard or norm.
• Idiographic approach

  Associated with methods in psychology that produce qualitative data (e.g. case studies/unstructured interviews/& other self report measures)
• Idiographic research

  • Aims to describe the richness of human experience and gain insight into the person's unique way of viewing the world
• Idiographic research on depression


  1. Based on 1st hand accounts from small no. of people

  2. Interviewed in depth

  3. Focus on a particular facet of human behaviour e.g. how they coped with their experience

  4. Data analysed and emergent themes identified

  5. Conclusions may help other people suffering similar experiences or more widely may help mental health professionals determine best practice
• Qualitative research methods are associated with the idiographic approach
• The idiographic approach is most associated with the humanistic and psychodynamic approaches.

  Humanistic psychology – best example of idiographic approach. Rogers and Maslow were interested in only documenting the conscious experience of the individual or ‘self’ rather than producing general laws of behaviour.
• Psychodynamic approach Freud’s careful observations of individuals were the basis of his explanations of human nature, for example the case of Little Hans was used to explain how a phobia might develop.

  Freud assumed he had identified universal laws of behaviour and personality development (nomothetic approach)
• Nomothetic approach to psychological investigation

  The main aim of the nomothetic approach is generalisation in order to create ‘laws’ i.e. create general principles of behaviour (theories) which then.

  These provide a benchmark against which people can be compared, classified and measured.

  Future behaviour can then be predicted and controlled.
• Quantitative research 

  Nomothetic research is most closely associated with models of the ‘scientific method’ and methods defined as reliable and scientific within psychology (e.g. questionnaires and psychological tests).

  The studies involve larger numbers of people to establish how people are similar or dissimilar.  Hypotheses are formulates, samples of people are assessed in some way (structured questionnaire) and the numerical data produced is analysed for its statistical significance. The nomothetic approaches seek to quantify human behaviour.
• A key difference between idiographic and nomothetic approaches is how each relates to subjectivity and objectivity. The idea of objectivity is key to nomothetic approach. laws of behaviour are only possible if methods of assessment are delivered in standardised and objective way. This ensures true replication occurs across samples of behaviour and removes the contaminating influence of bias.
• IN CONTRAST, researchers working within the idiographic approach tend not to believe that objectivity in psychological research is possible. It is people’s individual experience of their unique context that is important, rather than some underlying reality ‘out there’ that is waiting to be discovered.
• Examples in psychology

  The behaviourist  and biological approaches are nomothetic even though they sometimes use quite small samples. E.g. B.F. Skinner studied animals to develop general laws of learning. His research looked at one aspect of behaviour in a few animals but the main aim was to establish general laws.

  Biological psychology uses small samples e.g. Sperry’s split brain research which involved repeated testing and was in part the basis for understanding hemispheric lateralisation
• One strength is the idiographic approach provides rich data.

  The idiographic approach provides a complete and global account of the individual, such as the study of HM. A single case study may generate hypothesis for further study (e.g. the study of HM in memory research helped our understanding that some procedural memories are more resistant to amnesia. Such findings from unique cases may reveal important insights about normal functioning which may contribute to our overall understanding of behaviour.
• One strength of the nomothetic approach is the scientific value of the research

  The processes involved in nomothetic research tend to be more scientific, mirroring those employed within the natural sciences. These processes include standardised procedures, assessing reliability and validity and using statistical analyses to demonstrate significance. This arguably gives the discipline of psychology greater scientific credibility
• +ve is the two approaches may be complementary and not contradictory

  Rather than seeing idiographic + nomothetic approaches as either/or alternatives we can consider the same issue or topic from both perspectives, depending on the nature of the research question
• Research on gender development

  • Attempts to establish general patterns of behaviour (e.g., Bem's androgyny scale)
  • Case studies of atypical development (e.g. the case of David Reimer)
• The goal of modern psychology is to provide rich, detailed descriptions of human behaviour as well as the explanation of such behaviour within the framework of general laws
• One limitation of the idiographic approach may be its lack of scientific rigour

  Supporters of the idiographic approach may have to acknowledge the subjective and restrictive nature of their work. One criticism of Freud is that many of his key concepts (e.g. the Oedipus complex) were largely developed from the case study of a single case study (e.g. little Hans). Meaningful generalisations cannot be made without further examples, which means conclusions tend to rely on subjective interpretation of the researcher and are therefore open to bias.
• One limitation of the nomothetic approach is the loss of the whole person.

  The preoccupation within the nomothetic approach on general laws, prediction and control has been accused of ‘losing the whole person’ within psychology. Knowing there is a 1% lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia tells is little about what life is like with it. In lab tests of memory participants are treated as a set of scores rather than as individual people. This means, in its search for general laws, the nomothetic approach may sometimes overlook the importance of human experience.