Nomothetic and idiographic

Nomothetic and idiographic are two big words that describe different ways of studying things.

Let's start with nomothetic. Imagine you have a lot of toys and you want to sort them out. You could choose to sort them by color or by size, for example. This way of organizing things is kind of like the nomothetic approach to studying. It looks for general laws or patterns that apply to a lot of things. For example, a scientist might try to find general patterns in how people behave or think by studying a large group of people.

Now, let's switch to idiographic. Imagine you have a special toy, like a teddy bear that's been with you since you were born. This toy is like nothing else in your collection, it's unique to you. This way of looking at things is a bit like the idiographic approach to studying. It focuses on the unique and individual aspects of things. For example, a psychologist might work with one person to understand their unique experiences and feelings.

So, to sum up, nomothetic studies try to find general laws or patterns that apply to many things, while idiographic studies focus on the unique and individual aspects of things.