What criticisms have been made of Freud’s methods for collecting data? How did Freud believe his concepts should be tested?
Freud’s way of data collection has faced a number of criticisms. There is considerable difference between data collection and controlled data collection. Freud collected data just by relying on his memory. He wrote about the patient after the session was over.
It is also thought that Freud had provided suggestion to his patient’s experience, and could have misinterpreted it. He may have paid attention to only that part which he wanted to hear.
It was a general notion, that Freud may have actually inferred the sexual fantasies himself. He might have forced this version on his patient’s minds. There is a possibility that these incidents never occurred with the patient.
Freud had collected data from a very small sample group. He had patients mostly, women who belonged to rich families were educated and unmarried. His inference drawn from this sample cannot be used for everyone.
Discrepancies have been found in the case histories and the published data. The length of the sessions, and the events told during discussions did not match. Freud had almost burned most of his case histories having published only six of them after Breuer.
Even if we assume that the data were accurate, still there is no way to confirm it. Freud did not verify his patient’s story by talking to family or friends. Freud has stated that his concepts or results can be validated only by a psychoanalytic like him. He did not have much faith in the traditional psychology. He argued that his observations, were based on scientific facts.