Nomothetic

Sociological terminology Nomothetic literally means "proposition of the law" (Greek derivation) and is used in philosophy, psychology, and law with differing meanings. Etymology In the 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 Ancient Greek: νομοθετικός, romanized: nomothetikós, from νομοθέτης, nomothétēs, 'lawgiver', from νόμος, nómos, 'custom, law' and ultimately Proto-Indo-European: *nem-, lit. '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 and Piaget's developmental stages are nomothetic models of personality traits and cognitive development respectively. In contrast, the Ideographic approach refers to research about the unique and contingent aspects of individuals, as in psychological case studies. In psychological testing, nomothetic measures are contras