ABSTRACT
This chapter elucidates methodological problems in the study of fears and makes suggestions that will facilitate future research. Many studies that report fears may actually have investigated anxiety, and many reporting the results of anxiety studies may have been researching fears. An accompanying problem in the logical classification of fears has been that of an unequal number of fears in the various categories. A problem in the logical classification of fears, in addition to the initial problem of identifying fears, has been the task of determining the most common, the most popular, or the most intense fears. The problems are inherent in the logical classification of fears and other accompanying problems. The problem of determining the reliability and validity of a measuring instrument is perennial. The methodological problems in the study of fears have been presented in the chapter, accompanied by suggestions for improvement. Implicit in the suggestions is the need for developing new instruments for assessing fears.
