Why Can’t We Be More Idiographic in Our Research?

Barlow DH, Nock MK. Why Can't We Be More Idiographic in Our Research? Perspect Psychol Sci. 2009 Jan;4(1):19-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6924.2009.01088.x. PMID: 26158824.

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Key Concepts:

• idiographic approach: Carefully tracking one / few individual for a long time

• nomothetic approach: Assemble large groups of individuals and measure mean

Core Arguments

• Idiographic approach used to be popular in early stage of experimental psychology and middle of the last century

• Nomothetic strategy is now the dominant option, e.g.: RCT

• There are many challenges to the generalizability of nomothetic approach, normally in the form of methodology critic.

• Advance in idiographic method now allows and calls for better integration of both approaches.