Nomothetic literally means "proposition of the law" (Greek derivation) and is used in
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
,
psychology, and
law with differing meanings.
Etymology
In general
humanities usage, ''nomothetic'' may be used in the sense of "able to lay down the law", "having the capacity to posit lasting sense" (from grc, nomothetikos - νομοθετικός, from nomothetēs νομοθέτης "lawgiver", from νόμος "law" and the
Proto-Indo-European etymon nem- meaning to "take, give, account, apportion")), e.g., 'the nomothetic capability of the early mythmakers' or 'the nomothetic skill of Adam, given the power to name things.'
In psychology
In
psychology, ''nomothetic'' refers to research about general principles or generalizations across a population of individuals. For example, the
Big Five model of personality
The Big Five personality traits is a suggested taxonomy, or grouping, for personality traits, developed from the 1980s onward in psychological trait theory.
Starting in the 1990s, the theory identified five factors by labels, for the US English ...
and
Piaget's developmental stages
Piaget's theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence. It was originated by the Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget (1896–1980). The theory deals with the epistemology ...
are nomothetic models of
personality traits and
cognitive development respectively. In contrast, ''
idiographic'' refers to research about the unique and contingent aspects of individuals, as in
psychological case studies.
In
psychological testing, nomothetic measures are contrasted to
ipsative or
idiothetic
Idiothetic literally means "self-proposition" (Greek derivation), and is used in navigation models (e.g., of a rat in a maze) to describe the use of self-motion cues, rather than allothetic, or external, cues such as landmarks, to determine posit ...
measures, where nomothetic measures are measures that are observed on a relatively large sample and have a more general outlook.
In other fields
In
sociology, ''nomothetic explanation'' presents a generalized understanding of a given case, and is contrasted with ''idiographic explanation'', which presents a full description of a given case. Nomothetic approaches are most appropriate to the deductive approach to social research inasmuch as they include the more highly structured research methodologies which can be replicated and controlled, and which focus on generating quantitative data with a view to explaining causal relationships.
In
anthropology, ''nomothetic'' refers to the use of generalization rather than specific properties in the context of a group as an entity.
In
history, ''nomothetic'' refers to the philosophical shift in emphasis away from traditional presentation of historical text restricted to wars, laws, dates, and such, to a broader appreciation and deeper understanding.
See also
*
Nomothetic and idiographic
*
Nomological
References
{{reflist
Epistemology
Sociological terminology