Abstract

Psychical researchers are showing renewed interest in spontaneous cases, but few have had experience in the actual investigation of cases. Many researchers also do not seem to understand the importance of investigating cases instead of just accepting them as submitted by correspondents or turned up in surveys. Many cases in which someone makes a claim for a paranormal communication prove, on investigation, to provide no evidence supporting the claim. Uninvestigated cases are likely to have important omissions in the information provided when they are submitted, which may lead to erroneous conclusions. However, since investigated cases that are voluntarily reported to a research center may also have biases and be unrepresentative, parapsychologists should conduct new surveys of spontaneous cases in which the cases turned up will be thoroughly investigated.