Transpersonal Research Methods for the Social Sciences: Honoring Human Experience

by William G. Braud, Rosemarie Anderson

There is no shortage of research methods that are easily applied to the study of everyday human experience. How, though, does one attempt to study extraordinary human experiences - ultimate values and meanings, peak experiences, transcendence and heightened awareness, among others. William Braud and Rosemarie Anderson introduce a series of transpersonal research methods that are intended to help researchers develop new ways of knowing and methods of inquiry. While these methods will be of particular interest to researchers in transpersonal psychology, humanistic psychology, or transpersonal studies applied to traditional fields, the authors argue that these approaches - with their emphasis on developing intuition, empathy and self-awareness – can benefit anyone involved in the research enterprise across many disciplines.

354 pages, Paperback

First published April 29, 1998

About the author

William G. Braud (November 26, 1942 – May 13, 2012) was an American psychologist and parapsychologist.

Braud obtained his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Iowa. He was director of research in parapsychology at the Mind Science Foundation. He taught at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (1992–2010).

During the 1970s and early 1980s he conducted a series of experiments to test for psychokinetic influences upon living systems. Braud with Charles Honorton were the first to modify the ganzfeld procedure for parapsychological use.