Idiographic Approach: An approach to research that focuses more on the individual case as a means of understanding behaviour, rather than aiming to formulate general laws of behaviour

Idiographic qualitative research: Research on depression would be based on case studies so participants would be interviewed in-depth and the focus may be on a particular facet of human behaviour. The data is then analysed, emergent themes are identified, and conclusions may help other people going through similar experiences.

Idiographic examples in psychology: Associated with humanistic and psychodynamic approaches. Rogers sought to explain the process of self-development (unconditional positive regard) which was derived from in-depth conversations with clients in therapy. Freud also used case studies to develop his theories, i.e. little Hans

Nomothetic Approach: Aims to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws

Nomothetic Quantitative Research: Follows traditional science, hypotheses are formulated, samples of people are somehow assessed (structured questionnaire? psychological tests?) and the numerical data produced is analysed for its statistical significance. This data is used to turn human behaviour into numbers and patterns.

Nomothetic Examples in Psychology: Behaviourist and biological approaches are nomothetic. B.F Skinner studied animals to develop general laws of learning and although he looked at one aspect of behaviour the main aim was to establish general laws. Sperry’s split-brain research involved repeated testing and was the basis for understanding hemispheric lateralisation.

Objectivity v. Subjectivity: Nomothetic is objective as laws of behaviour are only possible if assessment methods are standardised to ensure they can be replicated across samples of behaviour. Idiographic believes the individual experience of a person’s life is important rather than some underlying theory waiting to be discovered.

Complete account (idiographic + nomothetic): idiographic research can complement nomothetic by shedding light on general laws or challenging them. The Case of HM revealed important insights about functioning which may contribute to our overall understanding

Restriction of Idiographic: idiographic research is still narrow and restricted as meaningful generalisations cannot be made without further examples and methods associated with the idiographic approach tend to be least scientific as they’re subjective.

Scientific Credibility (Idiographic + Nomothetic): nomothetic research is useful for establishing objectivity through standardisation, control and statistical testing but researchers using the idiographic approach also seek to objectify their methods. For E.g. triangulation is used to compare and increase the validity of different qualitative methods and modern qualitative researchers reflect upon their own biases as part of the research process

Losing the person (Idiographic + Nomothetic): Nomothetic loses understanding of the individual as it is preoccupied with general laws. E.g knowing there is a 1% lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia tells us little about the life of someone suffering from it. Subjectivity is useful for devising appropriate treatment options.