idiographic vs nomothetic

what is the idiographic approach?

• focuses on the individual and their unique experiences to understand behaviour

• Initial focus is about understanding the individual but the overarching aim for psychology is to make generalisation on human behaviour

what methodology does the idiographic approach use?

• qualitative methods such as case studies, interviews and observations to understand an individual’s subjective experience

• first hand accounts from small amounts of people

• fairly unstructured interviews

• data is analysed and themes are identified

• conclusions may help other people going through similar experiences, or develop theories

what are some examples of the idiographic approach in psychology?

• Most associated with humanistic and psychodynamic approaches

• For example, Carl Rogers sought to explain the process of self-development including the role of unconditional positive regard - was derived from in depth conversations

• Freud's observations of individuals were the basis of his explanations of human nature - e.g. Little Hans case was used to explain how a phobia might develop

what is the nomothetic approach?

• focuses on general principles and laws that apply to groups of people

what methodology is used in the nomothetic approach?

• mostly quantitative

• seek to quantify (count) behaviour

• most closely fits with traditional models of ‘scientific methods’

• hypotheses formed, samples of people assessed and numerical data produced and analysed for statistical significance

examples of nomothetic approach in psychology

• Behaviourist and biological approaches are nomothetic even though they sometimes use quite small samples

• For example, Skinner studied animals to develop the general laws of learning

• His research looked at one aspect of behaviour in a few animals but the main aim was to establish general laws

• Similarly biological psychology may use a small sample such as Sperry's split brain research which involved repeated questions and was for understanding hemispheric lateralisation

• Example: Milgram

compare the main features of the idiographic and nomothetic approaches

Idiographic	Nomothetic
No 'norm' Unique Subjective Qualitative Cannot be classified Non-scientific  Unstructured interviews	General principles can be applied to all Quantitative Objective Large numbers of people studied Scientific