Brandon Massullo's Blog, page 2
March 12, 2017
Are You More Prone to Ghostly Encounters? (Part 1)
I’m jealous of people who report having ghostly experiences!
I said it and I don’t feel guilty about it. Actually, it feels good to get that off my chest.My friends talk about how they wish they could be professional athletes, Hollywood actors, or live in a mansion, however I wish I could have a truly genuine ghostly encounter. I wish I could see a full torso apparition. I wish I could be part of a life-changing ghostly encounter that shatters the principles of science and reality itself. Is this weird?Yes, it is. At least according to my wife.A 2013 Huffington Post Poll showed that 18% (56 million) of Americans report actually seeing a ghost. I can say, without question, that being part of the 82% who have never seen a ghost ... sucks. I know some are reading this and saying “there is no proof that ghosts exist” or “most ghost sightings have a natural cause” but I still believe that no matter how remote the probability … a true ghostly encounter can occur.I’m not sure the percentage of people who claim to be psychic, sensitive, or have medium abilities, but I believe that the number of those who claim to have these “abilities” has grown considerably in the past 10 years. Almost every paranormal investigating team seems to have a sensitive or psychic. At paranormal conventions, I’ve listened to several presentations in which “experts” purport that one has to have this mysterious supernatural sensitivity in order to have an experience or that “psychics or sensitives” get better evidence of ghosts because of their “gift”.Well shit, I don’t have this mysterious sensitivity nor am I “gifted” so does that mean I’m never going to have my ghostly encounter? Relax and keeping reading because recent research may refine what “sensitive” really means.Some individuals are more prone to ghostly experiences, however their increased probability of having ghostly encounters has nothing to do with the mysterious and often controversial “psychic” abilities, but rather something that is as simple and concrete as the ability to taste, touch, and smell. I’m talking about Environmental Sensitivity.I want to make it clear that environmental sensitivity is not related to psychic sensitivity. Those who claim to be psychic sensitives believe they can sense or communicate with the deceased (e.g., John Edwards, Sylvia Brown, or Chip Coffey). Those who are classified as environmentally sensitive are simply affected by the surrounding environment to a higher degree than the normal population.As humans we are affected by and react to the environment in different ways. It has been suggested that the physical environment affects certain individuals more than others, which may lead to varying environmental conditions and dysfunctions within an individual. Think about the sense of taste for example. We can all taste foods, but there are individuals called “supertasters” who experience the sense of taste with far greater intensity than the general population. This is true with environmental stimuli as well. According to Michael Jawer, the emotions researcher, these individuals would be categorized as environmentally sensitive. Past research points to environmental sensitivity as a neurobiological phenomenon where certain individuals, from birth onward, are capable of registering very slight differences or changes in the physical environment. These individuals are predisposed to a number of conditions, illnesses, and perceptions that, due to their unusualness as well as intensity distinguish them from the general population. Basically, they are distinguished by their sensitivity to low-level environmental stimuli, resulting in negative, undesirable symptoms. These low level environmental stimuli do not affect the general population and are usually tolerated well and result in no negative symptoms.Environmentally sensitive individuals commonly report long-standing allergies, chronic pain and fatigue, migraines, or sensitivity to lights, sounds, and smells.Michael Jawer has studied environmentally sensitive individuals extensively, and has identified certain characteristics that are common among those with environmental sensitivities and environmental conditions. These characteristics are significantly different than with the control groups. One of the differences pertains to paranormal experiences, as those who were categorized as environmentally sensitive, reported experiencing a higher number of paranormal and apparitional experiences.I found Michael Jawer’s work extremely fascinating and wanted to find out if these Environmentally Sensitive individuals reported more paranormal experiences in a real-world setting. So I rounded up 250 participants and we headed to an allegedly haunted location called Mary King’s Close in Edinburgh to test whether these environmentally sensitive individuals were different than the general population in regards to ghostly encounters.The next blog will discuss my results, but you are welcome to get a head start and read my dissertation Environmental Sensitivity and Paranormal ExperiencesReferencesJawer, M. (2005) Environmental sensitivity: neurobiological phenomena. Seminars in Integrative Medicine, 3, 104-109.Jawer, M. (2006) Environmental sensitivity and apparitional experiences. Journal ofthe Society for Psychical, 70, 25-47
I said it and I don’t feel guilty about it. Actually, it feels good to get that off my chest.My friends talk about how they wish they could be professional athletes, Hollywood actors, or live in a mansion, however I wish I could have a truly genuine ghostly encounter. I wish I could see a full torso apparition. I wish I could be part of a life-changing ghostly encounter that shatters the principles of science and reality itself. Is this weird?Yes, it is. At least according to my wife.A 2013 Huffington Post Poll showed that 18% (56 million) of Americans report actually seeing a ghost. I can say, without question, that being part of the 82% who have never seen a ghost ... sucks. I know some are reading this and saying “there is no proof that ghosts exist” or “most ghost sightings have a natural cause” but I still believe that no matter how remote the probability … a true ghostly encounter can occur.I’m not sure the percentage of people who claim to be psychic, sensitive, or have medium abilities, but I believe that the number of those who claim to have these “abilities” has grown considerably in the past 10 years. Almost every paranormal investigating team seems to have a sensitive or psychic. At paranormal conventions, I’ve listened to several presentations in which “experts” purport that one has to have this mysterious supernatural sensitivity in order to have an experience or that “psychics or sensitives” get better evidence of ghosts because of their “gift”.Well shit, I don’t have this mysterious sensitivity nor am I “gifted” so does that mean I’m never going to have my ghostly encounter? Relax and keeping reading because recent research may refine what “sensitive” really means.Some individuals are more prone to ghostly experiences, however their increased probability of having ghostly encounters has nothing to do with the mysterious and often controversial “psychic” abilities, but rather something that is as simple and concrete as the ability to taste, touch, and smell. I’m talking about Environmental Sensitivity.I want to make it clear that environmental sensitivity is not related to psychic sensitivity. Those who claim to be psychic sensitives believe they can sense or communicate with the deceased (e.g., John Edwards, Sylvia Brown, or Chip Coffey). Those who are classified as environmentally sensitive are simply affected by the surrounding environment to a higher degree than the normal population.As humans we are affected by and react to the environment in different ways. It has been suggested that the physical environment affects certain individuals more than others, which may lead to varying environmental conditions and dysfunctions within an individual. Think about the sense of taste for example. We can all taste foods, but there are individuals called “supertasters” who experience the sense of taste with far greater intensity than the general population. This is true with environmental stimuli as well. According to Michael Jawer, the emotions researcher, these individuals would be categorized as environmentally sensitive. Past research points to environmental sensitivity as a neurobiological phenomenon where certain individuals, from birth onward, are capable of registering very slight differences or changes in the physical environment. These individuals are predisposed to a number of conditions, illnesses, and perceptions that, due to their unusualness as well as intensity distinguish them from the general population. Basically, they are distinguished by their sensitivity to low-level environmental stimuli, resulting in negative, undesirable symptoms. These low level environmental stimuli do not affect the general population and are usually tolerated well and result in no negative symptoms.Environmentally sensitive individuals commonly report long-standing allergies, chronic pain and fatigue, migraines, or sensitivity to lights, sounds, and smells.Michael Jawer has studied environmentally sensitive individuals extensively, and has identified certain characteristics that are common among those with environmental sensitivities and environmental conditions. These characteristics are significantly different than with the control groups. One of the differences pertains to paranormal experiences, as those who were categorized as environmentally sensitive, reported experiencing a higher number of paranormal and apparitional experiences.I found Michael Jawer’s work extremely fascinating and wanted to find out if these Environmentally Sensitive individuals reported more paranormal experiences in a real-world setting. So I rounded up 250 participants and we headed to an allegedly haunted location called Mary King’s Close in Edinburgh to test whether these environmentally sensitive individuals were different than the general population in regards to ghostly encounters.The next blog will discuss my results, but you are welcome to get a head start and read my dissertation Environmental Sensitivity and Paranormal ExperiencesReferencesJawer, M. (2005) Environmental sensitivity: neurobiological phenomena. Seminars in Integrative Medicine, 3, 104-109.Jawer, M. (2006) Environmental sensitivity and apparitional experiences. Journal ofthe Society for Psychical, 70, 25-47
February 12, 2017
Are Paranormal Conferences Sexist?
I woke up this morning at 530am and I did what every normal person with insomnia does … I checked my twitter feed.As I lay in bed listening to my dog snoring contently, most likely dreaming about squirrels, I came across a blog post entitledI’m a Real-Life Female Ghostbuster and I say Bring it On by Haley Stevens which was both inspiring and disheartening. The blog is extremely well written and points out the many contributions of notable female paranormal researchers such as Eleanor Sidgwick, Susan Blackmore, and Caroline Watt. Professor Watt is the Koestler Chair of Parapsychology at the University of Edinburgh and someone whom I hold in great respect. Dr. Watt was my dissertation supervisor while I studied at the University of Edinburgh and her kindness is only surpassed by her extensive knowledge of parapsychology and research methodology.Other notable females that were not mentioned in the blog however extremely influential are Louisa Rhine, Michaeleen Maher, and Gertrude Schmeider. Dr. Maher and Dr. Schmeider wrote the very first journal article I read about parapsychology titled Quantitative Investigation of a Recurrent Apparition and I'm forever grateful to them for inspiring me. These women along with the most important woman in my life, my mother, truly inspired me to further my education.While this is all inspiring stuff Haley Stevens also points out that “throughout the history of paranormal research, women have often been the leading figures despite being under-represented at every step of the way” Haley goes on to discuss possible sexism at paranormal conferences stating:"At paranormal research-related conferences male speakers routinely dominate and they don’t always deserve to "- Haley Stevens" I speak at paranormal conferences now and then – and I turn down more than I speak at due to scheduling issues but I am routinely the only woman on the speakers list, or one of two or three who are outnumbered by men."- Haley StevensThese comments rattled around in my head all morning. Is the paranormal field sexist? Are paranormal conferences dominated by men? I began to think back to all the conferences that I attended or spoke at and thought maybe she is right. I began to get disgusted with the field and thought to myself why haven’t I noticed this before? After a couple hours of ruminating on the topic and contemplating having whiskey with my breakfast I decided to figure this whole sexist thing out. How you ask? Well by completing some quanitative research.So Are Paranormal Conferences Sexist?It’s impossible to look at every conference however there is a great website Paranormal News Insiderwhich has a list of about 24 conferences for the upcoming year (2017). I simply counted the number of male and female speakers at these conferences. Before we get to the results it’s important to know that the ratio of males vs females in the United States is roughly 1:1 or equal. Overall the population is 49% female and 51% male (worldometers). So all things considered this should be the distribution at paranormal conferences. Below is a graph of the results.
Congrats! Well sort of. Turns out, at least based on my sample size of paranormal conferences, things aren’t as bad as I believed they would be. There were a total of 214 speakers at these conferences and 57% (123) were male and 43% (91) were female. While this isn’t an even split and there is still progress to be made it is not as horrible as Haley portrayed. Since Haley tends to be skeptical maybe there's a bit of confirmation bias (it's just a joke please don't get upset Haley I love your blogs!).What about Skepticism Conferences?I thought it only fair to look into skepticism conventions and conferences since I tend to frequent those as well. I was able to find a Skepticism Conventions guide and I also looked over the speaker lists at popular conventions such as the Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism, Logical LA, andCSI Con(2016). Below is a graph of the results.
According to my numbers there were a total of 121 speakers at the conferences with 69% (83) being male and 31% (38) being female. Not the best distribution however I want to make it clear that I simply reviewed the websites so the speaker lists could obviously not be accurate or change the closer it is to the date.What does this mean?First off women are awesome and they should be represented more at conventions and conferences. Next, the optimist in me believes that uneven distribution is the not the result of a conscious effort but rather has to do with speakers' availability. I'd like to think that in the near future all conferences will have an even distribution of males vs females, however the first step is awareness and then pursuing change. Thanks to Haley for her blog as it provided me with education and awareness.
February 4, 2017
Ghosts Across Cultures
I recently read a book entitled Ghosts, Spirits, and the Afterlife in Native American Folklore and Religionby Gary Varner. I'm definitely not an expert in Native American Folklore or culture, so this book opened my eyes to how Native American's viewed ghosts. What struck me as both interesting and concerning is how the notion or purpose of ghosts or spirits is so different across cultures.
As I mentioned in my previous blog, the most common modern thoughts among paranormal investigators involve the Spiritualist view, which is based on the Spiritualism movement in mid-1800’s, which is that ghosts are, in essence, harmless souls who crave direction and guidance from us humans. This is a far cry from how Native Americans viewed ghosts and spirits at the turn of the nineteenth century. While views on the afterlife varied from tribe to tribe, in general, Native Americans believed ghosts were vengeful and were capable of causing illnesses as well as death. As spiritualists in England were holding séances and seeking guidance from the ghost world the Native Americans warned others of the danger of the ghost world. One of the reasons that burial rites and ceremonies were so important in Native American culture was that it was a common belief that errors by the living during these ceremonies would cause ghosts to hang around and cause trouble. Among the Oglala Sioux, ghosts are believed to entice the living to join them in a selfish attempt to bring their loved ones to the afterlife (Varner, 2010). In the Paiute society, it is believed that ghosts attempt to capture the breaths of their relatives, causing them to die, so they will have more company in the afterworld (Varner, 2010). Fear of ghosts was evident among the Apache and the Navajo as well. The Navajo believed that ghosts were the malignant parts of the human soul, whose only purpose was to seek revenge and wreak havoc. In Lakota tradition, seeing or hearing a ghost can lead to bad luck or possibly a stroke. The Comanche even have a term called “ghost sickness” which caused paralysis and facial contortions and is tied directly to the amount of fear produced by the apparition. In Kwakiuti tradition, ghosts are feared, avoided by the living, appear just before the death of a person, and cause bad weather (Varner, 2010)Does anyone have any thoughts on the reasons for such different views from different cultures? Why do you think that in our modern society ghosts are viewed as harmless? The perception of ghosts has changed so dramatically in our modern society that people currently pay money in hopes of seeing a ghost ( i.e. ghost walks, haunted tours, ghost hunts at certain locations). Is this a good shift in perception or should we heed the advice of the Native American culture?
As I mentioned in my previous blog, the most common modern thoughts among paranormal investigators involve the Spiritualist view, which is based on the Spiritualism movement in mid-1800’s, which is that ghosts are, in essence, harmless souls who crave direction and guidance from us humans. This is a far cry from how Native Americans viewed ghosts and spirits at the turn of the nineteenth century. While views on the afterlife varied from tribe to tribe, in general, Native Americans believed ghosts were vengeful and were capable of causing illnesses as well as death. As spiritualists in England were holding séances and seeking guidance from the ghost world the Native Americans warned others of the danger of the ghost world. One of the reasons that burial rites and ceremonies were so important in Native American culture was that it was a common belief that errors by the living during these ceremonies would cause ghosts to hang around and cause trouble. Among the Oglala Sioux, ghosts are believed to entice the living to join them in a selfish attempt to bring their loved ones to the afterlife (Varner, 2010). In the Paiute society, it is believed that ghosts attempt to capture the breaths of their relatives, causing them to die, so they will have more company in the afterworld (Varner, 2010). Fear of ghosts was evident among the Apache and the Navajo as well. The Navajo believed that ghosts were the malignant parts of the human soul, whose only purpose was to seek revenge and wreak havoc. In Lakota tradition, seeing or hearing a ghost can lead to bad luck or possibly a stroke. The Comanche even have a term called “ghost sickness” which caused paralysis and facial contortions and is tied directly to the amount of fear produced by the apparition. In Kwakiuti tradition, ghosts are feared, avoided by the living, appear just before the death of a person, and cause bad weather (Varner, 2010)Does anyone have any thoughts on the reasons for such different views from different cultures? Why do you think that in our modern society ghosts are viewed as harmless? The perception of ghosts has changed so dramatically in our modern society that people currently pay money in hopes of seeing a ghost ( i.e. ghost walks, haunted tours, ghost hunts at certain locations). Is this a good shift in perception or should we heed the advice of the Native American culture?
January 10, 2017
3 Ways to Advance the Paranormal Field
Paranormal investigations have become stale.With so many paranormal investigators and so many investigations of ghosts and haunted locations where is all the evidence?Often the thought among paranormal investigators is that they will find the “smoking gun” or one piece of “evidence” that will prove that ghosts exist. Investigations seem to focus entirely on finding a single EVP, video, or picture that will provide conclusive evidence of the afterlife.Take a moment and ponder these questions;How many EVPs have you listened to on TV shows?How many EVPs do you think exist on the internet?How many pictures or videos of ghosts have you seen on the internet or on ghost hunting shows?My guess is you’ve heard or seen hundreds of EVPs, pictures, and videos of reported ghosts or spirits. So, what happens after this amazing evidence is collected? It’s posted to websites, Facebook, or Twitter and then ... NOTHING. No follow-up, no attempts at replication, and no independent investigations. The "evidence" slowly fades away. Skeptics call the evidence faked or misinterpreted. Academia doesn’t care or even acknowledge the hundreds of EVPS, grainy pictures, or anomalies in videos. So, what do we do?It is only through replication, patterns of data, and large sample sizes that skeptics and academia will take notice. Collecting EVPs, videos, and pictures is an important and needed part of an investigation and should not be omitted, but lets look at three additional ways to advance the paranormal field1. Data Collection Methods
It is only through identifying patterns or similarities in data that progress or advancement can be made. There are paranormal teams that have investigated hundreds of locations and have little data to show for their efforts, aside from some EVPs or picture anomalies. These investigators need not necessarily change their methods for investigation, just refine their data collection. With that being said I believe the most important tools for an investigator is a solid questionnaire and access to data collection software (i.e. Excel).There is a difference between data and documentation. Documentation is writing down what you are doing, seeing, or feeling. Documenting, whether it is through interviews (eye witness accounts) or observations (personal experiences) is subjective and is a form of qualitative research which should be used for in-depth review of individual cases (i.e., spontaneous cases).Let’s look at a typical investigation of a haunted location. Imagine that you are part of a team that has investigated one hundred haunted locations. You and your team are called to investigate a haunted residence. You arrive and interview three witnesses in which you obtain their eye witness accounts and experiences. You then perform historical research on the house and its previous occupants. You then gather EMF levels, photographs, and some EVPs. You then look at all the data you’ve collected, which is pretty cool, and come to the conclusion as to whether this house is haunted or not. This is an example of qualitative research as you have completed an in-depth look at three eye witnesses’ experiences, as well as the history of their house. While you used objective measurement tools like EMF meters, digital recorders, and cameras all the information gathered is specific to this one case. The data gathered here is great with very detailed and specific information about this one location. However wouldn’t it be great to have gathered some other data from this case and the 99 other cases that was more objective and could be analyzed statistically?Data collection through quantitative methods can be more concrete and can be statistically analyzed. Quantitative methods obtaindata which can be analyzed through statistical analyses (polls, surveys, t-tests, correlations). The easiest way to think of this is that Quantitative has an “n” and uses “numbers” whereas qualitative does not, therefore does not use numbers, but rather opinions, subjective observations, and behaviors. When you take an online survey or poll your responses are calculated using some form of mathematical analyses, therefore this would be considered quantitative. If you gather information by interviewing people, taking some pictures, and looking into the history of a house this is considered qualitative as no statistical analysis has taken place.Let’s use another example. Again, you are part of a team who has investigated over a hundred locations. You are called to investigation a haunted residence. You enter and interview three witnesses obtaining their eye witness accounts and experiences. You then obtain EMF levels in all the rooms at different times, use your digital recorders in all the rooms, and gather some video footage. This team, unlike the other, has developed a questionnaire which they have used in all of their 100 investigations. This questionnaire is given to the eye witnesses and gathers information such as; age, sex, eye color, education, marital status, and type of phenomena experienced in the house (i.e. sense of presence, auditory phenomena, witnessing an apparition). Let’s say you also gathered and logged some additional information like specific EMF readings in every room, weather outside, and other environmental data (humidity, barometric pressure, etc.) After the investigation, you take the data collected from the questionnaire and other logs and enter it into your data collection software (Excel) which has the data from the 99 other haunted investigations. Since your team has investigated 100 haunted locations and gathered eye witness accounts from three people at each location, you now have 300 completed questionnaires on individuals with ghostly experiences and 100 logs containing EMFs and other environmental information all neatly organized in one place (Excel) That's all great but what do we do with 300 completed questionnaires?2. Statistical Analysis
Using a statistical analysis software program like SPSS (or a free stats package) the above investigators could analyze the data they collected and look for similarities, patterns, and correlations among any type of data that they collected. For example, they could find that females with blue eyes have the most ghostly experiences. They could determine that ghostly encounters occur more frequently in 2nd floor bedrooms than any other room in the house. They could correlate barometric pressure, humidity, and EMF levels with ghostly encounters. They could determine what type of phenomena is most often reported in haunted locations. They could test the accuracy of psychics, mediums, or sensitives by correlating their reports of ghostly activity with witness reports. They could go deeper and find out if apparitions are more often reported when the EMF level is at a certain level. Depending on what questions and data they collect through their questionnaire and logs they could find out information on whatever they wanted.Keeping reading if you want to know how to get academia's attention.3. Collaboration
A paranormal team that has investigated 100 haunted locations and handed out their questionnaire to three eye witnesses per location have a sample size of 300, which is a large sample size. Most scientific research and experiments don’t have large sample sizes. It’s actually considered a huge limitation in most psychological journal articles and research. The research I completed while at the University of Edinburgh had a sample size of 250, which was the largest in my class. Needless to say, a sample size of 300 is pretty impressive. But let’s not stop at 300 my paranormal friends. What if there was a standardized questionnaire that all paranormal investigators and teams used? The sample size could be in the thousands or perhaps over a 100,000! Could you imagine? Trust me, if you had a standardized questionnaire which was distributed to a sample size of 100,000, academia would take notice. Professors and Academic institutions would be salivating to get their hands on the data for a 100,000 volunteers!I know that there are some rivalries and egos in the paranormal field, however, overall paranormal investigators have the same purpose, which is to advance the field. If all teams would work together and share data, methods, and outcomes of their statistics this would bring the field closer to mainstream science. If these investigations, data, and conclusions were presented in a journal and distributed to fellow investigators this would constitute a form of peer-review, which again would only strengthen the field.ConclusionsI hope that you can see that qualitative and quantitative research are both important individually, however if they are combined the advancement in the field would be significant. I would encourage those interested in paranormal investigations to better acquaint themselves with the wonders of Excel, obtain a statistical analysis software program (SPSS), develop a standardized questionnaire, and collaborate with other investigators. Through improved data collection, statistical analysis, and collaborations the field of paranormal research will evolve into a peer-reviewed and respectable field.
It is only through identifying patterns or similarities in data that progress or advancement can be made. There are paranormal teams that have investigated hundreds of locations and have little data to show for their efforts, aside from some EVPs or picture anomalies. These investigators need not necessarily change their methods for investigation, just refine their data collection. With that being said I believe the most important tools for an investigator is a solid questionnaire and access to data collection software (i.e. Excel).There is a difference between data and documentation. Documentation is writing down what you are doing, seeing, or feeling. Documenting, whether it is through interviews (eye witness accounts) or observations (personal experiences) is subjective and is a form of qualitative research which should be used for in-depth review of individual cases (i.e., spontaneous cases).Let’s look at a typical investigation of a haunted location. Imagine that you are part of a team that has investigated one hundred haunted locations. You and your team are called to investigate a haunted residence. You arrive and interview three witnesses in which you obtain their eye witness accounts and experiences. You then perform historical research on the house and its previous occupants. You then gather EMF levels, photographs, and some EVPs. You then look at all the data you’ve collected, which is pretty cool, and come to the conclusion as to whether this house is haunted or not. This is an example of qualitative research as you have completed an in-depth look at three eye witnesses’ experiences, as well as the history of their house. While you used objective measurement tools like EMF meters, digital recorders, and cameras all the information gathered is specific to this one case. The data gathered here is great with very detailed and specific information about this one location. However wouldn’t it be great to have gathered some other data from this case and the 99 other cases that was more objective and could be analyzed statistically?Data collection through quantitative methods can be more concrete and can be statistically analyzed. Quantitative methods obtaindata which can be analyzed through statistical analyses (polls, surveys, t-tests, correlations). The easiest way to think of this is that Quantitative has an “n” and uses “numbers” whereas qualitative does not, therefore does not use numbers, but rather opinions, subjective observations, and behaviors. When you take an online survey or poll your responses are calculated using some form of mathematical analyses, therefore this would be considered quantitative. If you gather information by interviewing people, taking some pictures, and looking into the history of a house this is considered qualitative as no statistical analysis has taken place.Let’s use another example. Again, you are part of a team who has investigated over a hundred locations. You are called to investigation a haunted residence. You enter and interview three witnesses obtaining their eye witness accounts and experiences. You then obtain EMF levels in all the rooms at different times, use your digital recorders in all the rooms, and gather some video footage. This team, unlike the other, has developed a questionnaire which they have used in all of their 100 investigations. This questionnaire is given to the eye witnesses and gathers information such as; age, sex, eye color, education, marital status, and type of phenomena experienced in the house (i.e. sense of presence, auditory phenomena, witnessing an apparition). Let’s say you also gathered and logged some additional information like specific EMF readings in every room, weather outside, and other environmental data (humidity, barometric pressure, etc.) After the investigation, you take the data collected from the questionnaire and other logs and enter it into your data collection software (Excel) which has the data from the 99 other haunted investigations. Since your team has investigated 100 haunted locations and gathered eye witness accounts from three people at each location, you now have 300 completed questionnaires on individuals with ghostly experiences and 100 logs containing EMFs and other environmental information all neatly organized in one place (Excel) That's all great but what do we do with 300 completed questionnaires?2. Statistical AnalysisUsing a statistical analysis software program like SPSS (or a free stats package) the above investigators could analyze the data they collected and look for similarities, patterns, and correlations among any type of data that they collected. For example, they could find that females with blue eyes have the most ghostly experiences. They could determine that ghostly encounters occur more frequently in 2nd floor bedrooms than any other room in the house. They could correlate barometric pressure, humidity, and EMF levels with ghostly encounters. They could determine what type of phenomena is most often reported in haunted locations. They could test the accuracy of psychics, mediums, or sensitives by correlating their reports of ghostly activity with witness reports. They could go deeper and find out if apparitions are more often reported when the EMF level is at a certain level. Depending on what questions and data they collect through their questionnaire and logs they could find out information on whatever they wanted.Keeping reading if you want to know how to get academia's attention.3. CollaborationA paranormal team that has investigated 100 haunted locations and handed out their questionnaire to three eye witnesses per location have a sample size of 300, which is a large sample size. Most scientific research and experiments don’t have large sample sizes. It’s actually considered a huge limitation in most psychological journal articles and research. The research I completed while at the University of Edinburgh had a sample size of 250, which was the largest in my class. Needless to say, a sample size of 300 is pretty impressive. But let’s not stop at 300 my paranormal friends. What if there was a standardized questionnaire that all paranormal investigators and teams used? The sample size could be in the thousands or perhaps over a 100,000! Could you imagine? Trust me, if you had a standardized questionnaire which was distributed to a sample size of 100,000, academia would take notice. Professors and Academic institutions would be salivating to get their hands on the data for a 100,000 volunteers!I know that there are some rivalries and egos in the paranormal field, however, overall paranormal investigators have the same purpose, which is to advance the field. If all teams would work together and share data, methods, and outcomes of their statistics this would bring the field closer to mainstream science. If these investigations, data, and conclusions were presented in a journal and distributed to fellow investigators this would constitute a form of peer-review, which again would only strengthen the field.ConclusionsI hope that you can see that qualitative and quantitative research are both important individually, however if they are combined the advancement in the field would be significant. I would encourage those interested in paranormal investigations to better acquaint themselves with the wonders of Excel, obtain a statistical analysis software program (SPSS), develop a standardized questionnaire, and collaborate with other investigators. Through improved data collection, statistical analysis, and collaborations the field of paranormal research will evolve into a peer-reviewed and respectable field.
January 1, 2017
Why Do Ghosts Hang Around Us Boring Living People?
"I just bought a house that was built around the 1940’s. One evening after I had finished putting away some items in the kitchen I was walking up the steps. As I glanced up the staircase there was a man wearing 1970’s style clothing with huge sideburns and a moustache staring at me. I was horrified and immediately thought that a burglar was in the house. I screamed and told him to leave. At that moment, he vanished right in front of my eyes. I was confused and scared so I called the police. Needless to say, after searching the house they found no man dressed in 70’s clothes. I thought maybe I was just imagining things and chalked this up to exhaustion or something. A few days later I was reading in bed and noticed a mist that traveled into my room. I then felt a strong sense of a presence. Knowing I couldn’t call the police for a misty cloud I sat and watched. The mist moved about the room as if completing a routine, going from the closet to the bathroom several times and then back out the hallway. Over the next year, I had numerous encounters with this ghostly man. On several occasions, I would see him in the kitchen, bedroom, and on the stairs. Each time the encounter was brief and he faded away right in front of me. While I was startled, I was never fearful for my safety."Wow. Amazing. To be part of something that transcends what science and humanity can explain cannot be explained in words. Reports of ghostly encounters are fascinating!Wait a minute ... Hold the Phone ... Pump the BrakesWhy is this deceased being hanging around?Is this invisible entity sitting on the couch 365 days a year just waiting for the right moment to appear to this woman?Shouldn't have this spirit, entity, energy, soul, or ghost have moved on to heaven or at least another plane of existence?Why would a ghost or soul choose to hang around this world?According to James VanPraagh who is the author of Ghosts Among Us, a producer for the popular TV show Ghost Whisperer, and a psychic medium; earthbound spirits stay close to earth due to unfinished business, being scared of the light, or simply because they are confused or unaware of what is going on. Mediums or psychics see themselves as ghost psychologists in that they work with the ghosts or earthbound spirits to determine their issue and help them cross into the light. Van Praagh’s views are probably the most common theory held by believers in ghosts or life after death, which is commonly called the Spiritualist view, which is based on the Spiritualism movement in mid-1800’s. He did not come up with this theory as it has been the common hypothesis of ghost hunters, psychics, and paranormal enthusiasts for over 100 years. The idea of ghosts hanging around to complete unfinished business is almost part of our culture. Many TV shows, movies, and haunting documentaries use this premise often. The idea being that there is a reason for the haunting and once that reason is discovered the ghost or disembodied soul can move on. There is even a specialization in mediumship called Spirit Rescue where mediums are specifically trained in crossing over techniques and tools to help Earthbound Spirits. The TV show Ghost Whisperer, which Van Praagh produced, has a similar theme to almost every episode, which involves the medium gaining information from the ghost, then working with the ghost to help them find peace and cross over.The general idea is that earthbound spirits are souls that are either unwilling or unable to leave earth.Does this mean that all ghosts or spirits that we encounter are Earthbound spirits? Let's look at another case example;"My father had passed away several years ago. We had a very special relationship and I definitely considered myself a "daddy's girl". His passing was a shock to the whole family and while I still miss him the grief has lessened. My mother's health had recently made an unexpected turn for the worst and I was fearful of losing her as well. Overwhelmed with sadness, worry, and fear I lied down on the couch one evening. It must have been around 8pm when my encounter occurred. I know that I was not asleep. While lying on the couch an overwhelming sense of comfort overcame me. As I sat up I saw an image of my father. I wasn't scared just shocked. He walked towards me and whispered "Don't be sad". He then rubbed my shoulder, which is what he would do to ease my sadness when I was a teenager. The encounter only lasted seconds and then he slowly faded away."To have an amazing ghostly encounter with a person who had been such a special and integral part of one’s life is the definition of a life-changing event.The notion that this woman's father showed up during an emotionally stressful time to comfort and ease psychological distress is remarkable.Wait a minute.... Hold the phone... Pump the brakesThis woman's father appeared on one occasion to comfort his daughter in a time of distress. Does this mean her deceased father is an earthbound spirit unaware he died or unwilling to leave earth? Doesn't seem like it. He appeared once, didn't seem confused or lost, doesn't appear to have some unfinished business, and doesn't present as fixated on earthly matters. Doesn't appear to be any reason he would choose to remain earthbound. This ghostly encounter doesn't fall neatly into the Spiritualistic view of earthbounds spirits which causes me to rasie an onslaught of questions;Was the father hanging around the house since his death waiting for the perfect time to ease his daughter's distress?Can he move on now?Was she having a hallucination?Was she tapping into some universal energy in which her father's consciousness exists?Was this an unconscious projection of her inner psyche as a means to decrease her emotional distress?Do I prefer paper or plastic? What?The definitions or explanations by VanPraagh and others of earthbound sprits surely doesn't explain all types of ghostly encounters. While this theory is by far the most popular that doesn't mean it is the most encompassing. There are numerous other theories on the causes of ghosts.The motivation or purpose of this blog (Haunted Theories) is to examine all theories regarding ghostly encounters. As you can tell I have many questions and thoughts on ghosts and would love for you to follow me on my journey of exploration. My goal is to examine different theories and thoughts on the causes of ghostly encounters as well as introduce my thoughts and theories. So stay tuned and I will answer the questions I raised in the upcoming blogs.
