Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- adjective Noting a science which aims at the discovery of universals or general laws: opposed to idiographic.
- adjective Legislative; enacting laws.
- adjective Pertaining to a nomothete, or to the body of nomothetes.
- adjective Founded on a system of law or by a lawgiver; nomistic: as, nomothetic religions.
Examples
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First, there is a critique of the 'nomothetic' quest -- the idea that the social sciences should discover social laws.
I believe the distinction by Wilhelm Dilthey between 'nomothetic' (= positing laws) and 'idiographic' (= describing individuals) sciences, is still much more fruitful than other approaches that tend to blur the dividing line.
Unlike the “nomothetic” knowledge that natural science seeks, what matters in historical science is not a universal law-like causality, but an understanding of the particular way in which an individual ascribes values to certain events and institutions or takes a position towards the general cultural values of his/her time under a unique, never-to-be-repeated constellation of historical circumstances.
The nomothetic approach tries to draw inferences from a more limited exposure to a large number of cases.
It's also worth stating that one of the theoretical approaches associated with ethnographic research is an idiographic, rather than nomothetic, approach to data -- a concern with the particular, rather than the general.
They are often ideographic (i.e., customized for the situation at hand) rather than nomothetic (providing the same standard format to all respondents).
Note
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The word 'nomothetic' comes from a Greek word meaning 'relating to legislation'.