In Reply.—Editorial Note.—We agree. The rule in research is to use reliable instruments suitable for the particular inquiry in hand. To facilitate communications, we expect investigators to be explicit, and to assemble data so that comparability can be maximized, and the problem at issue clarified and advanced. Depending on the topic, the dimensions or typologies, or the historical or trait or measurement factors at issue, population samples have to be appropriately drawn and explicitly characterized. Further, where possible, investigations bearing on clinical science issues should calibrate the extent to which a warranted design and choice of methods does or does not relate to a clinically recognizable disorder or to steps in the real world of clinical decision making.
The concern of a "well-known psychiatrist" may reflect a failure to grasp the essence of science and the construction of knowledge; this cannot be ruled by formulas.1,2 Nor is the source of