Idiographic vs Nomothetic

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Issues and Debates - Idiographic vs Nomothetic
Chanelle Titchener
Flashcards by Chanelle Titchener, updated more than 1 year ago
Chanelle Titchener
Created by Chanelle Titchener about 6 years ago
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Question Answer
Idiographic Idios = Private or personal An approach to research that focuses more on the individual case as a means of understanding behaviour Everyone has unique characteristics
Methods of research - Idiographic - Case Studies Unstructured interviews Self-reports Autobiographies Personal documents Opinionated methods = Qualitative
Idiographic - Evaluation - + Provide a more complete understanding of the individual + May shed further light on general laws + Satisfies the key aim of science - description and understanding of behaviour - Narrow and restricted - Open to bias - Subjective
Nomothetic Nomos = Law Attempts to study human behaviours through developments of general principles and universal laws Focuses on the similarities between people Laws can be divided into 3 kinds
Nomothetic laws Radford and Kirby - 1975 1 - Classifying people into groups eg: DSM 5 2 - Establishing principles eg: behaviourist approach to learning 3 - Establishing dimensions eg: Eysenck's personality inventory
Methods of investigation - Nomothetic - Scientific and quantitative data Experiments and observations Group averages are statistically analysed to create predictions about people in general
Nomothetic - Evaluation - + Regarded as scientific + Combines biological and social aspects + Helps psychology become more scientific - Predictions can be made for groups but may not apply to individuals - Extensive use of controlled environments = lacks generalisation - One size does not fit all
Idiographic vs Nomothetic I = Focuses on individual N = Focuses on the group I = Private and subjective N = Scientific and objective I = Qualitative methods N = Quantitative methods
LINKS MATERNAL DEPRIVATION = nomothetic MEMORY = Case studies = idiographic and nomothetic (complimentary) HUMANISTIC Emphasises individual = idiographic PSYCHODYNAMIC Case studies = idographic
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