Idiographic vs Nomothetic

• The idiographic approach involves studying individuals and focusing on their unique approaches
• The approach doesn’t make generalisations to the wider population
• The believe it’s irrelevant to try to develop universal laws of behaviour usually use qualitative methods of conducting research
• Strengths of idiographic approaches

  • Detailed accounts about an individual
  • Use of methods such as case studies provide a more complete understanding about the behaviours that individual exhibits, and the possible roots of these behaviours
  • Can complement the nomothetic approach by giving more in depth information about general laws, or challenging these laws
  • Single case studies generate hypotheses for further research, revealing important information about functioning that contributes to our overall understanding of behaviour
• Weaknesses of idiographic approaches

  • Methods often employed are very restrictive, and can be said to lack scientific rigour
  • Open to multiple types of bias, as they rely on the subjective interpretation of the researcher
  • Reduce the meaningful generalisations that can be made from such research
  • Generalisations cannot be made without further examples, as there is no adequate baseline with which to compare behaviour and extrapolate to other populations
• The nomothetic approach involves the study of a large group of people and then the generalisation of conclusions to the wider population with the goal to develop laws and theories about all human behaviour
• Nomothetic approaches are a type of quantitative research method
• Strengths of nomothetic approaches to psychological investigations

  • Regarded as scientific
  • Employ methods that give a precise measurement
  • Allow for the prediction of behaviour
  • Objective and controlled methods allow for replication and generalisation
  • Enables psychologists to establish 'norms' of typical behaviour, giving psychology greater scientific credibility
• Weaknesses of nomothetic approaches to conducting psychological research

  • May be inappropriate to generalise conclusions to all people
  • Individuals may present with the same symptoms or behaviours, but the root cause of this will be different for each individual
  • Making generalisations to all people may result in patients being put through therapies that are not appropriate for them
  • Extensive use of laboratory studies that lack mundane realism and do not correspond to real-life situations
  • Lack the ability for generalisation to everyday life, and can be argued to lack external validity