The author discusses the common ground shared by psychoanalytic research and other types of scientific research. He describes in great detail just what kind of theory psychoanalysis is explicating: its domain, fundamental concepts, causal claims, and explanatory strategies. Given the nature of psychoanalytic theory, he proposes the case-study method as an especially felicitous research strategy, but points out that it is only one strategy among many, and that each strategy will have its advantages and disadvantages.