Nomothetic approach

• nomothetic approach

  Draws conclusions about populations of people and makes generalisations to the wider group
• Nomothetic research


  Research that seeks to establish general laws or principles
• Idiographic approach


  Research that focuses on the unique characteristics of the individual
• Forensic psychology is dominated by nomothetic research
• The reasons behind offending behaviour, with the exception of cognitive distortions, are heavily nomothetic as they seek to explain why offenders do what they do and generalise across all offenders
• When considering the treatment of offenders, a more idiographic approach is adopted
• Behaviour modification


  Firmly nomothetic as it is applying the principles of behaviourism
• Anger management


  Looks at the individual circumstances of the offender and his/her thought processes, which is more idiographic
• Restorative justice programmes


  Consider the unique combination of offender and victim and therefore are also more idiographic
• Nomothetic approach


  • Treatment of schizophrenia
• Nomothetic research

  Sees the cause of schizophrenia as rooted in the biology of those suffering with it
• Cognitive behavioural therapy approach

  More idiographic and requires a therapist to listen to the patients' individual viewpoint
• Nomothetic methods

  Objective and measurable. Tests can be conducted under standardised conditions, using data sets that provide group averages and statistical analysis.
• Research into IQ and intelligence


  • Produced norms of behaviour such as a human IQ average of 100
• Strength of nomothetic methods

  • Research can be verified so replication, prediction and control of behaviour is easy
• Due to the nomothetic approach of studying a large number of people and then making generalisations about their behaviour, the uniqueness of an individual is therefore lost
• Milgram's research


  • Found that 65% of participants obeyed because they were ordered to do so
  • But this fails to provide an explanation of why each individual person obeyed or disobeyed
• Nomothetic approach

  Less time consuming than the idiographic approach
• Nomothetic approach

  • Questionnaires
  • Psychological tests
• Nomothetic approach

  • Psychologists can gain a large amount of data simultaneously
  • As opposed to an idiographic approach which would be one interview/case study at once
• Nomothetic approach

  The 'whole person' has been lost
• Knowing that there is a 1% risk of developing Schizophrenia tells us very little about what life is like for someone with the disorder
• Idiographic and nomothetic approaches

  Should not be seen as conflicting
• Insights from an idiographic approach

  Can shed more light on the general principles developed using the nomothetic approach
• Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation


  • Suggests that extreme maternal deprivation is irreversible
  • Koluchova's twins case demonstrates that maternal deprivation was overcome
• Bowlby's theory

  Can be challenged by the Koluchova's twins case
• Considering a topic from both idiographic and nomothetic perspectives

  • Provides rich, detailed descriptions of human behaviour
  • Provides explanations of behaviour within the framework of general laws
• Taking an eclectic approach reflects what 'everyday' psychologists actually do in their jobs and research