Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches

It is difficult to build effective general theories with the idiographic approach because .

• The approach is too objective

• The approach is too subjective

Case studies = The use of multiple methods to study an individual or small group in detail

• Idiographic

• Nomothetic

This approach is associated with methods in psychology that produce qualitative data.

• Nomothetic

• Idiographic

A strength of the idiographic approach is that single case might generate  a. .....

• Idiographic

• Nomothetic

Attempts to describe the nature of the individual and their subjective experience

• Idiographic

• Nomothetic

Unstructured interviews that can describe the richness of human experience

• Idiographic

• Nomothetic

It seeks to quantify human behaviour = therefore it prefers methods that produce quantitative data.

• Idiographic

• Nomothetic

There may be no attempt to compare these to a larger group, standard or norm = no attempts to make generalisations

• Idiographic

• Nomothetic

An approach psychological research that seeks to formulate general laws of behaviour based on the study of groups & use of statistical (quantitative) techniques.

• Idiographic

• Nomothetic

Little Hans study

• Idiographic

• Nomothetic