The Field in Psychoanalytic Research Methodology

Abstract

This dissertation is an exploration of the field in psychoanalytic research methodology aimed toward increasing understanding of unconscious processes that develop between researchers and their research topic. In this study, recent psychoanalytic research is discussed with an exploration of the research methods utilized. The methods used are then discussed in the context of the “circle of research methods” (Romanyshyn, 2012), a conceptualization of large groups of research traditions including natural science, human science, hermeneutic science, and science of the soul. The research approach of this study is centered in the traditions of hermeneutics and alchemical hermeneutics, which are grounded in the works of Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger, and Gadamer (Palmer, 1969). The researcher utilized the hermeneutic circle to explore research methods in psychoanalysis comparing the new information that arose from the process to the previous information that was already understood. Alchemical hermeneutics was also used to make a place for unconscious processes between this researcher and the research topic. The question of the place of the dynamic unconscious in research methods in psychoanalytic research opened up the larger question about the scientific status of psychoanalysis, and this topic is addressed throughout this study. For research conducted in the traditions of hermeneutic science and science of the soul in psychoanalysis, this study proposes that several theoretical concepts of analytic field theory be used and applied to develop a new research method in psychoanalysis that would make room for dynamic unconscious processes.