A general search for new phenomena with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV

The operation of the Large Hadron Collider provides many new opportunities to investigate physical phenomena at the TeV scale. The data recorded at the ATLAS detector since 2008 allow us to study many theories that predict the occurrence of new physics in this energy range. The approach of a model-independent analysis offers new ways to test the Standard Model prediction without using model-based assumptions by comparing the observations in as many event topologies as possible with the expectations from the Standard Model. I present in this thesis the results of a model-independent general search analysis with the ATLAS detector, using data from pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV. In addition, I will test new approaches for background estimations, an extended search strategy as well as sensitivity studies for new physics models.