This article describes a specimen of the way in which a specific master plan for research in clinical psychiatry is effected, based on experience in research of schizophrenia at the Prof. Dr. H. C. Rmke Hospital, Second Psychiatrie University Hospital of Utrecht.
It describes how a) our own clinical experience, b) the results of the research of other described in the literature, and c) methodological and theoretical problems together determine the structure of a master plan.
We argue that clinical research in schizophrenia must inevitably seek intersub jective unambiguous observables. The idea of schizophrenia is a finding of clinical psychiatry and must be stated in clear observables first bef ore other research disciplines can add information about the patients concerned.
Findings in biochemistry, e.e.g. psychology etc. are meaningless until it is quite clear which patients are concerned. Authors as a rule do not define their patientsample or what they mean by schizophrenia.
A number of problems of concept formation, formulation of sampling criteria and the conditions under which research is carried out are also discussed.