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Gallup Poll on American’s Beliefs in Paranormal and Psychic Phenomena

Gallup Poll on American’s Beliefs in Paranormal and Psychic Phenomena Telephone interviews conducted with a randomly selected national sample of 1, 012 American adults, 18 years and older (conducted May 2001) +/- 3 percentage points, 95% confidence) Item Believe (%)

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Gallup Poll on American’s Beliefs in Paranormal and Psychic Phenomena

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  1. Gallup Poll on American’s Beliefs in Paranormal and Psychic Phenomena Telephone interviews conducted with a randomly selected national sample of 1, 012 American adults, 18 years and older (conducted May 2001) +/- 3 percentage points, 95% confidence) Item Believe (%) Psychic or spiritual healing 54 ESP 50 Haunted houses 42 Possession by devil 41 Existence of ghosts 38 Telepathy 36

  2. Item Believe (%)Extraterrestrial visitation 33Clairvoyance 32Communication with the dead 28Astrology 28Witches 26-

  3. Changes (>5%) since 1990 survey:Item % ChangePsychic or spiritual healing +8Haunted houses +13Possession by devil -8*Existence of ghosts +13Extraterrestrial visitation +6Clairvoyance +6Communication with the dead +10Witches +12* This was the only item to have exhibited a decrease over the 11 years between the surveys!www.gallop.com/poll/releases/pr010608.asp

  4. Doing Science • The necessity of obtaining grant funding • The funding of research—who provides the money? • Grants versus contract research • Grant application process • Expenses typically funded by grants • The role of overhead in research contracts • The role of overhead in American universities • Ethical review following completion of the application

  5. Dissemination of Research Findings:Conferences • Provides up-to-date information of what other researchers are currently working on. • Provides personal contact with other researchers, so collaborative projects become easier to implement • Specialized versus generalized conferences • Travel expenses, conference registration are costly

  6. Scientific Journals • The selection process for journal articles—reviewers • Articles are submitted to only one journal at a time. There is no multiple publication practice or multiple submissions prior to publication. • Journal publication is a very costly endeavour. • No payments to journal authors. • Journal editors and reviewers may have certain biases pet theories that they favour in selecting articles for publication. • Delays in journal publication make timeliness an issue. • Lack of interest in publishing replications, failures to obtain statistical significance may give a distorted view of the actual nature of the field.

  7. Graduate School in Psychology • M. A. degree (usually takes 2 years, but not all universities award a master’s degree in psychology) • Thesis research requirement • Research assistantship • Courses in statistics, methodology, specific subject content, and the history of psychology Ph. D. degree (usually 2-4 years after the M.A. degree) • Additional courses (advanced statistical techniques) • Other research requirements (major/minor research area papers) • Research assistantship • Teaching assistantship • Comprehensive examination prior to dissertation • Dissertation research requirement

  8. Postdoctoral Fellowships • Provides specialized research experiences • Allows for the acquisition of specialized skills

  9. Misunderstandings Concerning Science • Accumulation of facts/data is the primary goal of science. • Some scientists can be described as exact sciences. • To be considered a science, experiments must be performed. • Science is deficient because it cannot give any ultimate explanations. • Scientists distort reality and cannot do justice the fullness of experience. • Science is either concerned only with practical (or social needs) ends or is completely oblivious to practical concerns. • Free will versus determinism is a pseudo issue since determinism is not fatalism.

  10. Kuhn, T. S. (1970). The structure of scientific revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Normal science: research based upon previous scientific achievements.Paradigms: laws, theories, applications, or instrumentation that provide models for research traditionsAppropriateness for psychology?Revolution: the rapid replacement of an older paradigm with a new one.

  11. Revolution Data doesn’t fit! Emergence of new paradigm New technology New measurement New world view Appearance of new cases Normal Science Standardization Textbook popularization

  12. Hypothesis Generation • Case study • Paradoxical incident • Analogy • Hypothetico-deductive method • Functional analysis • Rules of thumb • Conflicting results • Accounting for exceptions • Reducing complex relationships to simpler components relationships

  13. What about other techniques for generating hypotheses? • Peculiar incidents in personal experience • ?

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