Prediction In The Frame Of Reference Of The Single Case.

The article focuses on the problem of prediction in sociological research. Perhaps the most inviting current methodological problems inherent in use of case materials in sociological research rest in attempts to extend the base for systematically derived generalizations from individual cases to classes of cases. In the idiographic frame of reference the ends of scientific generalization are understanding and powers of prediction and control pertinent to the behavior of a single case; in the nomothetic frame of reference the ends of scientific generalization are understanding and powers of prediction and control pertinent to cases grouped categorically. Some argue that actuarial predictions concerning given populations do not reveal which intra-class individual will be involved in predicted behavior. The chance of successful prediction relative to an individual's behavior, whether this is recognized or not, is dependent upon logic and manipulation identical with those relative to prediction by classes.