A topic in research methodology
A nomothetic research paradigm
Research in one of the major traditions, or paradigms, of research is often referred to as nomothetic.
"Nomothetic research looks for general patterns and rules that once discovered will be expected to be widely applicable; whereas idiographic research recognises value in exploring the idiosyncrasies of the unique individual case" (Taber, 2013: 45)
Taber, 2013: 45
Nomothetic research is often contrasted with idiographic research.
"Windelband (1904) introduced his famous polarity in order to distinguish between two kinds of science, not between science and nonscience. The two kinds of science were what he called "sciences of law" (Gesetzeswissenschafren) and "sciences of events" (Ereigniswissenschaften). The former were "nomothetic", the latter "idiographic," but they were both sciences, both explanatory, although in different ways."
Danziger, 1995: 115
The erklären tradition
Some times the term 'erklären' (often contrasted with 'verstehen') is used to describe research looking for law-like regularities:
"The scientist who engages in erklären tries to make explanatory sense of the phenomenon by finding the laws that govern it, whereas the scientist who engages in verstehen tries to make empathetic sense of the phenomenon by looking for the perspective from which the phenomenon appears to be meaningful and appropriate."
Bransen, 2001
A related term is 'nomology' (a 'science of laws'), as when the philosopher Jean Cavaillès suggested that
"Only a nomological theory allows us to define in a univocal way the system of objects that constitutes its domain."
Cavaillès, 1942/2021, p.126
Biology as nomothetic science
Modern biology is seen as a natural science, but had to develop from a largely descriptive natural history tradition. The work of one pioneer (Jakob von Uexküll) has been described thus:
"Uexküll's theory provides signs and rules; it thus aspires to become the kind of life science as well as the kind of sign science that Peirce called nomological and that Piaget calls nomothetic."
Winthrop-Young, 2010
Sources cited:
- Cavaillès, J. (1942/2021). On Logic and the Theory of Science (R. Mackay & K. Peden, Trans.). Falmouth, Cornwall: Urbanomic Meida Ltd.
- Bransen, J. (2001). Verstehen and erklären, philosophy of. In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. (pp. 16165-16170). Oxford: Elsevier Science Ltd.
- Danziger, K. (1995). Neither science nor history. Psychological Enquiry, 6(115-117).
- Taber, K. S. (2013). Classroom-based Research and Evidence-based Practice: An introduction (2nd ed.). London: Sage.
- Winthrop-Young, G. (2010). Afterword Bubbles and webs: a backdoor stroll through the readings of Uexküll. In A Foray into the Worlds of Animals; with, A Theory of Meaning (pp. 209-243). University of Minnesota Press.
My introduction to educational research:
Taber, K. S. (2013). Classroom-based Research and Evidence-based Practice: An introduction (2nd ed.). London: Sage.
