Does gender affect paranormal investigation?

1. Gender in Paranormal Investigation Brandy Stark Florida Ghost Gathering 2008 SPIRITS of St. Petersburg

3. The Study *This is a very informal mixed methods study utilizing SurveyMonkey™. Some questions were simply to obtain demographics, others were to get more in-depth and personal answers to participants’ personal observations. *Participants were obtained using the snowball technique: information was posted on the SPIRITS MySpace account, the SPIRITS webpage, and sent out via 10 group lists on Yahoo.com. I do not know who answered the survey as no names were asked and no data was recorded to track participants. *Primarily, it was a phenomenological study set in the framework of social constructionism. *One survey was a general survey for both genders to answer to obtain demographics. A second survey was created and copied, one for each gender to answer, that related more specifically to gender issues.

4. Biases *Researcher is female, with a strong background with female networking (family, education, educational programs, Humanities, and paranormal team) *Research believes that she has been affected by gender differences in the paranormal field, and believes that she has observed gender bias. However, for this study, the researcher attempted to simply observe the results and to perform research as applied to this topic, without the nature of bias.

5. Limitations *Time was a factor. Despite taking two months to perform, this study entailed a greater amount of research than anticipated. I was unable to utilize as much of the information as I had collected and may need to continue to expand this study for future presentations. *Unable to find a concise “gender description list” – research from academic sources supported that this is a weakness in the field. *Baseline for research (gender, psychology and leadership) remains as the white male standard. *Smaller research sample (approximately 26 participants)

15. Sociocultural *Accepted feminine traits: compassion, gentleness, understanding, excitability, sensitivity, submissiveness, sentimentality, and personal power *Accepted masculine traits: dominant, assertive, autocratic, independent behaviors (Hughes, Kroehler, Bander Zanden, 1999; Rosner, 1990).

21. How does the paranormal field hold up?

27. Proof in the Paranormal Female: (Note: Quotes as taken from survey are corrected for spelling. Highlights are from the researcher): 1) To me if I get an EVP that is interacting with me and talking back, I am willing to say, Yes there is something here. I am female and have done this for 30 years . Photos mean nothing to me, but video evidence I consider more valuable when determining a place to be haunted. But EVP is my number one thing that I go by. 2. Events captured on film, digital or hi 8, audio, high reading on EMF, EVP . Female 3. I'm female. Personally, I go with my gut, since I am sensitive . I can usually walk into a place and "feel" if something is there. However, I do have a bit of healthy skepticism about myself, so unusual pictures/video and EVPs (especially clear answers to questions)that cannot easily be explained away (like the usual dust in a video or on a picture) serve to "back myself up”. 4. Female. I personally consider EVP to be the most acceptable "proof ". Some photos can be valid, but I'm not big on orbs. EMF, Temp readings, etc are documented, but to be "proof" I would like to see several different types of fluctuation at once.

28. Proof in the Paranormal Male: 1) My name is [removed], Ph.D. I'm a Paranormal Psychologist/Investigator with 40+ yrs. experience in many countries in the world. I currently live in New Orleans, LA. where I conduct Investigations in the ante-bellum and Victorian mansions in Historic Garden District of the city. This is a very difficult question to answer, and a very controversial one, also. "Acceptable proof" itself is extremely vague, indeed, as it covers an enormous spectrum of definition. However, the standard thought is: If there is no possible means of the effect being "natural", then it is very probably Paranormal. Many of us with years of experience have developed a particular "sense" pertaining to "evidence" which we've garnered by whatever means and are acutely discerning of what is true evidence or natural phenomena. True evidence is real, regardless of blind skepticism . 2) EVPs are reliable but are open to interpretation. I am male. 3) Male. To me, paranormal and haunted are two separate things. Paranormal proof is unusual noises and sights. Haunted must be paranormal occurrences that can be only be attributed to a human or demonic entity. Both must have objective evidence. Feelings or experiences don't count as proof, just help guide me to actual proof.

29. Proof in the Paranormal 4) I am male. I feel there has to be more then still pictures of orbs. A moving object that shows a path might be acceptable. Anything on video that cant be explained, might be. Any physical contact, other then just cold spots. Pushing, marks and anything that can be captured on video or other capture devices, are great proof.

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