Variable-Centered, Person-Centered, and Person-Specific Approaches
比较了以变量为中心、以人为中心和以人为特定对象三种研究方法，说明每种方法适用于不同研究问题，并用真实数据示例展示如何选择最合适的方法。
The variable-centered approach is favored in management and applied psychology, but the person-centered approach is quickly growing in popularity. A partial cause for this rise is the finer-grained detail that it allows. Many researchers may be unaware, however, that another approach may provide even finer-grained detail: the person-specific approach. In the current article, we (a) detail the purpose of each approach, (b) describe how to determine when each approach is most appropriate, and (c) delineate when the approaches diverge to give differing results. Through achieving these goals, we suggest that no single approach is the “best.” Instead, the choice of approach should be guided by the research question. To further emphasize this point, we provide illustrative examples using real data to answer three distinct research questions. The results show that each research question can be fully addressed only by the appropriate approach. To conclude, we directly suggest certain research areas that may benefit from the application of person-centered and person-specific approaches. Together, we believe that discussing variable-centered, person-centered, and person-specific approaches together may provide a more thorough understanding of each.