Betsy Edwards
Discuss the idiographic nomothetc debate in psychology. (16 marks)
An idiographic approach emphasises the uniqueness of individuals, and studies the subjectve
experiences, motvatons and values of individuals as a means of understanding behaviour. They ofen
use qualitatve methods – such as self-report techniques, case studies and interviews – as these obtain
rich, experimental data and allow the researcher to gain insight into the person’s unique way of viewing
the world. One example is the humanistc approach, as this focuses on subjectve experiences of a whole
person, and rejects the noton of formulatng general laws to describe the behaviour of all people.
A nomothetc approach atempts to derive general laws to describe human behaviour. They use
quanttatve, scientic methods to collect experimental data from large samples of partcipants. They
then use statstcal analysis to establish similarites and diferences in behaviours, which allows the
predicton of future behaviour. Also, they provide a ‘standard behaviour’, which people can be
compared to. One example is the behavioural approach, where experiments are conducted on hundreds
of animals in order to develop universal laws about learning.
Idiographic research is limited by its frequent use of case studies, as only studying the behaviour
of one individual may not provide useful or have any practcal applicatons. However, if many case
studies are conducted and all give similar conclusions, idiographic research may be able to derive a more
detailed predicton of human behaviour than nomothetc research could ever produce, e.g. Bowlby’s 44
thieves study and his theory of maternal deprivaton. In some circumstances, the idiographic approach
may be beter as it can generate generalisable conclusions whilst acknowledging the subjectve
experiences that make us human. Despite this, there is ofen a danger in formulatng theories from such
small samples, though it may provide a useful way of building upon existng ones.
A strength of idiographic research is that it can help develop or challenge general laws
nomothetc research formulates. For example, HM could create new motor memories but not episodic
and semantc memories; this case study challenged the working memory model, which suggested that
long-term memory was all one store. Milon and Davis suggest that research should start with a
nomothetc approach and then move to an idiographic approach. This may be the best opton, as using
idiographic methods later in research can help identfy errors or individual diferences that a general law
needs to acknowledge.
Nomothetc research may be more valuable than idiographic research, as the predicton of
behaviour allows us to develop treatments for mental health disorders. For example, concluding that
low serotonin levels cause OCD has led to SSRI drug therapies that help reduce symptoms. However, it
may be that idiographic research into how mental health disorders afect people’s lives would be a good
approach to removing the stgma of psychopathology, and encouraging the public to have a more
empathetc view. Therefore, there may also be a role for idiographic research in clinical psychology.
Word count: 172 + 307
Discuss the idiographic nomothetc debate in psychology. (16 marks)
An idiographic approach emphasises the uniqueness of individuals, and studies the subjectve
experiences, motvatons and values of individuals as a means of understanding behaviour. They ofen
use qualitatve methods – such as self-report techniques, case studies and interviews – as these obtain
rich, experimental data and allow the researcher to gain insight into the person’s unique way of viewing
the world. One example is the humanistc approach, as this focuses on subjectve experiences of a whole
person, and rejects the noton of formulatng general laws to describe the behaviour of all people.
A nomothetc approach atempts to derive general laws to describe human behaviour. They use
quanttatve, scientic methods to collect experimental data from large samples of partcipants. They
then use statstcal analysis to establish similarites and diferences in behaviours, which allows the
predicton of future behaviour. Also, they provide a ‘standard behaviour’, which people can be
compared to. One example is the behavioural approach, where experiments are conducted on hundreds
of animals in order to develop universal laws about learning.
Idiographic research is limited by its frequent use of case studies, as only studying the behaviour
of one individual may not provide useful or have any practcal applicatons. However, if many case
studies are conducted and all give similar conclusions, idiographic research may be able to derive a more
detailed predicton of human behaviour than nomothetc research could ever produce, e.g. Bowlby’s 44
thieves study and his theory of maternal deprivaton. In some circumstances, the idiographic approach
may be beter as it can generate generalisable conclusions whilst acknowledging the subjectve
experiences that make us human. Despite this, there is ofen a danger in formulatng theories from such
small samples, though it may provide a useful way of building upon existng ones.
A strength of idiographic research is that it can help develop or challenge general laws
nomothetc research formulates. For example, HM could create new motor memories but not episodic
and semantc memories; this case study challenged the working memory model, which suggested that
long-term memory was all one store. Milon and Davis suggest that research should start with a
nomothetc approach and then move to an idiographic approach. This may be the best opton, as using
idiographic methods later in research can help identfy errors or individual diferences that a general law
needs to acknowledge.
Nomothetc research may be more valuable than idiographic research, as the predicton of
behaviour allows us to develop treatments for mental health disorders. For example, concluding that
low serotonin levels cause OCD has led to SSRI drug therapies that help reduce symptoms. However, it
may be that idiographic research into how mental health disorders afect people’s lives would be a good
approach to removing the stgma of psychopathology, and encouraging the public to have a more
empathetc view. Therefore, there may also be a role for idiographic research in clinical psychology.
Word count: 172 + 307
