People who report unusual experiences may be only a small and unrepresentative share of those who have them. What would make case collections more useful for understanding what is being reported?
How do you make paranormal case data less biased?
Asked by
m1crotoast
Answers
The missing reports matter as much as the ones collected. If people who are already interested in paranormal research are more likely to come forward, the resulting cases may not represent everyone who has an unusual experience. A larger collection alone does not fix that problem.
Clear, easy ways to report cases could help, along with explaining what information is collected and how it will be used. It would also help to record how a case came in, so researchers can be cautious about what the collection can and cannot show.
Reply to this answer
Make the reporting process approachable, but keep the questions consistent. Ask for a description of the event, when and where it happened, and what ordinary explanations have already been considered. Separate what the person directly noticed from what they think it means.
And be upfront that reports are not proof of a paranormal cause. A careful collection can show patterns in submitted accounts, but if reporting is uneven, it cannot tell us how common those experiences are in the wider population.
Reply to this answer
Add your answer
Answers are reviewed before publication.