Idiographic & Nomothetic Approaches
- Created by: AnaisMarieNTR
- Created on: 16-03-18 11:19
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- Idiographic & Nomothetic Approaches
- Idiographic
- It investigates individuals as unique, taking into account experience.
- The methodology used yields qualitative data
- There's no attempts made to compare individuals to others
- Examples of the Idiographic approach in psychology
- The humanistic approach
- The aim is to understand people's subjectivity
- The psychodynamic approach
- Case studies & case study/unstructured interviews
- Its not idiographic as he used results to make general laws
- The humanistic approach
- Evaluation
- Furthers our understanding by providing rich insight into conditions that couldn't be created experimentally for ethical and practical reasons
- For example, Clive Wearing
- Challenges the MSM by showing the LTM is not a single store
- For example, Clive Wearing
- The research methods are less scientific
- E.g. Structured interviews yield qualitative data which needs interpreting
- This involves researcher bias
- E.g. Structured interviews yield qualitative data which needs interpreting
- Individual Cases
- By looking at them in depth it can reveal new information that can prompt research in a new area or lead to revision of established theories
- Furthers our understanding by providing rich insight into conditions that couldn't be created experimentally for ethical and practical reasons
- Nomothetic
- The nomothetic approach investigates large groups to find general laws of behavior that apply to everyone
- Quantitative methods are used to identify laws on behaviour
- Individuals are measured and behavior is predicted
- Examples of the nomothetic approach in psychology
- Behaviourism
- Skinner's experiments established general laws
- Cognitive Approach
- Proposes laws of memory and function
- Biological Approach
- Analyses thousands of other samples to establish laws about a range of studies
- Behaviourism
- Evaluation
- Uses a scientific methodology
- Gives credibility to psychology
- We can compare individuals and plan for people who present atypical patterns of behavior (mental health issues)
- It's a one size fits all approach so it won't be a good fit for everyone
- But from an economic view point it is more viable than interventions based on an idiographic approach
- Overlooks the richness of human experience by reducing people to a set of score in experiments
- Usually associated with reductionism and determinism
- Uses a scientific methodology
- They are both important
- How can they be combined?
- The nomothetic approach allows us to study people suffering from similar symptoms
- Identifies a common cause
- The idiographic approach allows us to meet the needs of individuals with unique problems
- The nomothetic approach allows us to study people suffering from similar symptoms
- Idiographic
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