The Society for Life History Research in Psychopathology is a group of investigators from many disciplines who share an interest in studying the longitudinal aspects of psychiat- ric disorder. Sociologists, psychologists, statisticians, psychiatrists, epidemiologists, and others each bring to the study of life history the expertise and vantage point arising from his or her unique training and experience. This volume, the fifth in a series, is devoted to explor- ing the methods used to contribute to the understanding of the complex unfolding of a human life as it avoids, copes with, or succumbs to psychiatric disorder. We hope that by describing these methods, their current status, advantages, and short- comings, this volume can serve as a guidepost to all who are involved in our field to help understand it further and to generate solutions for the many crucial problems we face. J. S. H. B. M. R. Contents Introduction . . . . . 1 John S. Strauss, Haroutun M. Babigian, and Merrill Roff SECTION I CONTROLLED VS. NATURALISTIC APPROACHES CHAPTER 1 Controlled vs. Naturalistic Experiments: Application of the Life Table Method 7 Myrna M. Weissman CHAPTER 2 The Psychiatric Case Register: A Versatile Device for the Application of Multiple Methodological Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Haroutun M. Babigian and Dolores B. Jones CHAPTER 3 A Survey of Issues Related to the Analysis of Observational Data in Longitudinal Research . . 43 John E.