ABSTRACT
The rationale, goals, and questions of this chapter's research call for a methodology that supports active involvement of participants. Such a study enables children to document and to reflect on their make-believe worlds, as well as to articulate their make-believe worlds in an environment that is comfortably structured and non-threatening, and in a way that is age-appropriate. During the research process, the goal was to attain a deep understanding of what we heard from the children, to find the patterns in the fantasies, rather than to unveil psychological processes. The research design facilitated the children's expression of their fantasy worlds and enabled the researchers to 'read' those worlds in pictures and in written and spoken language. Cross-cultural analysis constituted an integral part of the analysis from the very beginning. In order to draw children into a state of mind that would help them enter their fantasy worlds, we devised a process of visualization using spoken imagery, relaxation, and music.
