Research design in the psychoanalytic field: A synthetic proposition

Abstract

This essay aims to review the methodological problems inherent to the psychoanalytic field and present guidelines for research development with this approach, considering the current state of the qualitative research paradigm in the humanities and health sciences. It is proposed that the fundamental criterion is the use or not of the psychoanalytic method and its association with other means of investigation, out-lining three groups of designs: (1) research on psychoanalysis, which occurs without the use of the psychoanalytic method, which comprises theoretical or documental studies that approach it in the context of investigating the history and epistemology of psychoanalytic ideas or their socio-cultural and philosophical dimension; (2) research in psychoanalysis, which includes the empirical studies that use the psychoanalyti-cal method, comprising traditional studies of clinical cases in the psychotherapeutic model and studies based on extended practices for group, institutional and socio-cultural contexts in the scope of health, education, work or community; (3) research with psychoanalysis, which covers empirical research designs that use the theoretical and methodological foundations of psychoanalysis associated with methodological strategies from other fields for the collection and analysis of clinical-qualitative data.