week 1

• Idiographic approach (1)

  A method of investigating behaviour which focuses on individuals and emphasises their uniqueness

  Subjective and rich human experience is used as a way of explaining behaviour, without the aim of developing general principles and unifying laws
• Idiographic approach (2)

  Associated with methods that produce qualitative data

  These methods include studying the individual and not groups and therefore not generalising findings to others

  An example is the study of HM and KF, where the idiographic approach was used in the form of case studies, and informed further research into the different types of long-term memory
• Examples of the Idiographic Approach (1)

  The psychodynamic approach: Freud used case studies and in-depth interviews to collect qualitative data from Little Hans; data which later formed the basis of the Oedipus and Electra complexes

  However, Freud also established his psychosexual stages of development on the basis of similar research methods, arguing that all children pass through the same sequence of stages

  This is more similar to a nomothetic approach
• Examples of the Idiographic Approach (2)

  The humanistic approach adopts a holistic and 'phenomenological' approach to research, which focuses on the experience of the individual

  Such research methods were then used to develop the client-centred approach to therapy and Maslow's hierarchy of needs