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Idiographic & Nomothetic Approaches

Examples of Idiographic

Idiographic Approach

  • The humanistic approach is the best example of the idiographic perspective.
  • Rogers and Maslow were only interested in the conscious experience of the self.
  • The psychodynamic approach is often called idiographic as Freud used case studies, but he did also develop universal laws.
  • Attempts to describe the nature of the individual.
  • People are studied as unique entities, with their own subjective experiences and values.
  • Generally associated with methods that produce qualitative data.
  • For example, case studies, unstructured interviews and other self-report methods.
  • Reflects the aim of idiographic research - to describe the richness of human experience.

Examples of Nomothetic

Evaluation

Against Idiographic

For Idiographic

  • Utilises in-depth qualitative methods.
  • Provides a complete, global account of the individual.
  • Complements the nomothetic approach by providing further light on general laws or by challenging them.
  • A single case may generate hypotheses for further study.
  • The approach is narrow and restricted.
  • Freud, for example, received criticism for basing many of his key concepts on a single case study.
  • Means generalisations cannot be made.
  • Methods used are less scientific.
  • Conclusions drawn are often based on subjective interpretations.
  • A feature of reductionist and determinist approaches that use scientific methods.
  • Hypotheses are formed and tested.
  • Findings are generalised.
  • Skinner and the behaviourists studied responses of hundreds of rats, cats, etc. to develop the laws of learning.
  • Cognitive psychologists infer the structure and processes of human memory by measuring performance of large samples of people in lab tests.
  • Biological psychologists have conducted brain scans on countless human brains to make generalisations about localisation of function.

Against Nomothetic

Nomothetic Approach

For Nomothetic

  • Processes involved in nomothetic research are very scientific, mirroring those used in natural sciences.
  • These processes have enabled psychologists to establish norms of 'typical' behaviour.
  • Gives psychology greater scientific credibility.
  • By focusing on general laws about large groups of people, the approach 'loses the whole person'.
  • In lab research participants are often treated as scores rather than as people.
  • Their subjective experience is ignored.
  • Overlooks the richness of human experience.

Complementary, Not Contradictory

  • Could consider the same topic from both.
  • In research on gender development, there are general patterns of behaviour alongside case studies of atypical development.
  • Modern psychology aims to provide rich, detailed descriptions of human behaviour as well as explaining behaviour within the framework of general laws.
  • The main aim is to produce general laws of human behaviour.
  • These provide a 'benchmark' against which people can be compared, classified and measured.
  • Also predicts and/or controls likely future behaviour.
  • Closely aligned with those 'scientific' methods such as experiments.
  • Study a large number of people to establish ways people are similar.
  • Radford and Kirby produced 3 types of law:
  • Classifying people into groups (DSM 5)
  • Establishing principles (applied in general)
  • Establishing dimensions (placed into and compared)
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