The heterographic method of deviant case analysis which aims to combine the advantages of the nomothetic and the idiographic approaches is proposed as a supplemental technique for the study of behavior. The method involves the detailed study of those Ss whose responses to a psychological test or experimental technique indicate that they are qualitatively different from Ss who are best described by the measure of central tendency. The approach has heuristic value because it serves to generate hypotheses about variables of potential significance which tend to be overlooked when attention is focused on measures of central tendency.
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