An inspection method and an inspection apparatus are disclosed, wherein the appropriate inspection can be conducted in accordance with the situation change of a nonconforming product from an initial stage, an adjust stage and a stable stage. The conformity/nonconformity is discriminated according to a MTS model and a one class SVM model based on the normal data obtained from a conforming product. The conformity/nonconformity is discriminated by both the MTS and the one class SVM in an adjust stage where a sufficient amount of sample data cannot be acquired or the shape of the conforming product distribution in the feature space and the shape of the normal area are unstable, and only by the MTS in a stable stage where a sufficient amount of sample data can be acquired and the shape of the conforming product distribution and the shape of the normal area are stable.