ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses that the idea of research strategies like extensive and intensive research strategies rooted in the realist paradigm are suggested as an alternative to the nomothetic versus idiographic division. The etic versus emic distinction is important for any culture or psychology researcher to consider because it identifies the two positions that a researcher may occupy in relation to people object of study. It includes contrast variable-based and case-based designs, several important considerations that are directly related to strategic decision-making: nomothetic versus idiographic approaches and related to them variable-based and case-based designs. The idiographic inquiry within the interpretivist paradigm is aimed at describing the phenomena of interest and interpreting the meanings that operate within the units of analysis. The chapter outlines the challenges and controversies of sampling in culture and psychology research. The extensive research strategy frequently uses statistics and often employs the etic position of researchers, it may be associated with the positivist/quantitative paradigm and variable-based design.
