Psych

• Nomothetic view


  • Provides more precise and scientific explanation than idiographic
  • Involves testing under controlled conditions
  • Uses standardised procedure, allowing it to be replicated
  • Gives psychology greater credibility
  • Helped psychology establish itself as a scientific discipline
• Nomothetic view


  • Prevents psychologists from creating theories
  • Often too simplistic
  • Viewed as incomplete for describing the complexities of human behaviour
  • Knowing there's a 1% lifetime risk of schizophrenia tells us little about what life is like for people with the disorder
  • In its search for general laws it overlooks the richness of human experience
• Idiographic view


  • Lacks scientific vigour
  • Research methods like case studies prone to subjectivity
  • Many of Freud's work like Oedipus complex based on single case studies like Little Hans, so conclusions based on subjective interpretation of Hans' behaviour
  • Open to researcher bias
  • Not generalizable
• Idiographic approach


  • Provides complete and global account of the individual
  • May complement nomothetic
  • Case studies of brain damaged individuals like Phineas Gage, HM, may reveal important insights about normal functioning which contributes to overall understanding of human behaviour
• It is useful to use idiographic and nomothetic approach together rather than separately