The idea of using a questionnaire for psychoanalytic research arose during the work of a study group which had formed to study the question of therapeutic factors.

As they proceeded with their task, the members of the group noted that the Authors studied reach only general agreement on elements which are commonly held to be fundamental in psychoanalytic practice, and on their respective significance. The concepts of setting, transference, counter-transference, interpretation etc. almost always require a term which specifies in what particular sense each Author uses them. In fact, a detailed study reveals that the concepts relating to therapeutic factors, even when formulated in the same jargon, do differ somewhat from one Author to another. The differences become even more marked on the question of whether and to what extent the personality of the analyst has a therapeutic effect. Some members of the study group conceived the idea of submitting to all the members of the S.P.I.(*) a specially formulated questionnaire. The