Over the last 3 decades or so, English and its related disciplines of Rhetoric and Composition have adopted new tools of research--tools other than the traditional ones of narrative and description. These other tools are empirical or scientific, those that are common to the social sciences, including experiments, case studies, surveys, and think-aloud protocols. The response to this infusion of scientific method has been mixed. It is possible that stories do have their place in scholarship. Scholars do not need to choose one research approach over and to the exclusion of another, since there is not really an inherent opposition among them. In fact, a strong case could be made that the narrative is the foundation out of which scientific inquiry emerges. If it is undeniable that narrative is a powerful discourse, that in one form or another it pervades human thought processes, the fact remains that the English discipline probably cannot live without scientific research, as it brings valuable, fresh perspectives to research. Russell Hunt's study of faculty and students' diverse interpretations of Graham Greene's "The Second Death" shows how narrative can be used responsibly, with a self-conscious sense of the limitations of the approach. (Contains 12 references.) (TB)