idiographic vs nomothetic

idiographic

attempts to describe the unique nature of the individual, studying individuals without intending to establish general laws of behaviour

nomothetic

study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws. it involves scientific methods e.g. experiments, testable hypotheses are formulated. the study of large samples, sampling should involve a method of sample selection to give representativeness of a larger population e.g. stratified/quantitative

behaviourist

skinner studied rats' responses to develop laws of learning (nomothetic)

biological

conducted brain scans on countless human brains to make generalisations about localisation of function. hypotheses rigorously tested, statistically analysed, general laws and principles are developed (nomothetic)

cognitive

infer structure and processes of human memory by measuring performance of large samples of people in lab tests (nomothetic)

psychodynamic

Freud's use of case studies detailed patients' lives (idiographic). but also assumed he'd identified universal laws of behaviour and personality development (nomothetic)

humanist

Rogers and Maslow took phenomenological approach to studying humans and were interested in documenting 'self' described themselves as anti-scientific, more concerned with unique experiences (idiographic)

strength of nomothetic

p - process involved tends to be more scientific e - testing under standardised conditions, there's prediction and control and statistical analysis e - general laws allow psychologists to predict behaviour and identify risk groups l - also means nomothetic treatment programmes are widely accessible e.g. SSRIs for depression/OCD

weakness of nomothetic

p - preoccupation within approach on general laws, prediction and control accused of losing uniqueness of person in psychology e - knowing 1% risk of schizophrenia tests little about what life is like for someone who is suffering with it e - lab studies involving tests of memory pps are treated as a series of scores rather than individual people l - in its search for generalities, nomothetic approach may overlook richness of human experience

strength of idiographic

p - approach with its in-depth qualitative methods of investigation provides complete and global account of individual e - may compliment nomothetic approach by shedding further light on general laws or by challenging such laws e - a single case may generate hypotheses for further study l - also true that in the case of brain-damaged individuals ' findings may reveal important insights about normal functioning which may contribute to overall understanding e.g. HM revealed insights about LTM

weakness of idiographic

p - supporters of idiographic approach must still recognise the narrow and restricted nature of their work e - e.g. many of Freud's concepts like the Oedipus complex were largely developed from a single case of little Hans e - meaningful generalisations cannot be made without further examples as there is no adequate baseline with which to compare behaviour l - these case studies often rely on the subjective interpretation of the researcher and as such are open to bias