Research Methods in Psycho-Analysis1

The aim of this paper is to discuss methods of psycho-analytical research, ultimately to promote the development of an international psycho-analytical research organization. The views expressed are based, first, on personal clinical experience, second, on experience gained as Director of Research of the London Institute of Psycho-Analysis over a period of sixteen years, and third, on reflections stimulated by recent experience of the activities of the Research Committee of the International Psycho-Analytical Association.

As a preliminary to discussion of method, it is necessary to review the somewhat unusual conditions that prevail in the field of psycho-analytical research. Two factors in particular call for prior attention. The first has from time to time been referred to in psycho-analytical literature; namely, the fact that, owing partly to the conditions under which clinical analysis is conducted, and partly to the use of interpretative techniques of investigation, it is not possible either to employ fully or fully to depend on the forms of scientific control customary in most other sciences. This difficulty is unavoidable but not insuperable: it can be met by sustained application of such scientific checks as are appropriate to the special conditions of psycho-analysis.

The second and much more important factor, though clearly avoidable, has significantly enough received little attention. It cannot be denied that there is an increasing tendency not to apply to the data of observation or to the methods of interpretation such scientific controls as are available. The consequence is that a great deal of what passes as attested theory is little more than speculation, varying widely in plausibility.

Let me give the commonest instance of this state of affairs. An analyst, let us say, of established prestige and seniority, produces a paper advancing some new point of view or alleged discovery in the theoretical or clinical field. Given sufficient enthusiasm and