Nomothetic V Idiographic

• The nomothetic side of the debate attempts to produce general laws of behaviour providing a benchmark in which behaviour can be compared to.

  It aligns itself with scientific methods ensuring objectivity, replicability, large samples and controlled conditions etc.
• An example of nomothetic resarch is the behaviourist approach to explaining behaviour.

  This is because Skinner used large sample of rats, cats, pigeons. He also replicated studies and used controlled experiments to explain stimulus response links through the likes of Skinner's box, and he created the theory of operant conditioning.
• The idiographic side of the debate highlights the use of individual experience specifically the 'richness' of human experience with no interest in creating general laws.

  It's often based on case studies or unstructured interviews and produces qualitative data.
• An example of idiographic research is the humanistic approach which attempts to explain the individual's experience of the world.

  Maslow and Rogers took a phenomenological approach attempting to document the conscious experience of one's 'self'.

  They were more concerned with investigating unique experience 'on its own merits' instead of producing general laws.
• Support for the idiographic approach is that it has resulted in positive implications for research within psychology.

  For example the case studies of HM, Clive Wearing and KF were used to understand the transferral of memories. HM provided evidence to support the multistore model of memory.

  This shows how focusing on individuals can still help to inform scientific laws of behaviour.
• However using an idiographic approach means that research is often narrow and restrictive.

  For example the case study of Little Hans was open to bias due to the subjective interpretation.

  This results in meaningful generalisations not being made as there's no adequate baseline of which to compare behaviour to.

  Therefore it's difficult to build effective theories of human behaviour in the complete absence of nomothetic research.
• Support for the nomothetic stance is the idea that it uses scientific methods in order to establish general laws through objective measures.

  For example, the behaviourist approach generated the law of operant conditioning through the use of lab experiments using large samples of rats.

  Also most tests are standardised which result in high levels of replicability and validity.
• However, the nomothetic approach has been criticised for losing the understanding of the individual because these general laws are applied to them.

  For example knowing there's a 48 % risk of developing schizophrenia when both parents are diagnosed, does not inform anyone what it's like to be a sufferer with Sz and does not aid the understanding of living with the disorder.

  Understanding these things could be the crucial point in developing treatments for the sufferers.

  Therefore even though it creates general laws, it sometimes fails to relate to human experience.