OBE Survey
A survey research to examine the phenomenon of out-of-body experience

Here is an introduction to the OBE Survey that is being currently conducted by the IAC.

This research aims to elucidate aspects of the out-of-body experience phenomenon. Through the analysis of 98 topics, this survey contributes to the verification of the universality and characteristics of claimed extracorporeal experiences that occur during sleep or the waking state as reported by internet users. This will allow different statistics to be computed and comparisons within subgroups of the sample to be made.

The OBE Survey questionnaire is comprised of 7 sections that aim to verify points such as:

• The level of lucidity during OBEs;
• The frequency in which experiences occur;
• The sensations that may be related to the OBE;
• The types of OBEs experienced;
• Whether individuals confuse dreams with OBEs;
• The related phenomena that are experienced during OBEs;
• The extent to which OBEs can be controlled by the person who experience them;
• The personal, educational, or cultural factors that may influence the OBE (to enable identification of probable characteristics that contribute to making someone a conscious projector);
• The most efficient procedures to generate OBEs.

METHOD

Collection of data voluntarily provided by the participants through self-administered questionnaires that are responded to online (via the internet). Initially, the questionnaire was originally available at www.iipc.org, and later at www.iacworld.org.

To obtain a wide sample range of individuals from different countries and cultures, the survey has been made available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

The questionnaires are then electronically stored at the website host and retrieved for later coding, statistical analysis, and report presentation.

SAMPLE FRAME

Individuals from any country on the globe that can access the Internet and can read in one of the languages, in which the questionnaire is available, are able to participate. Therefore, volunteer sampling has been adopted. Since respondents visited these websites, this indicates the sampling frame possesses some type of interest or curiosity in the studies of the out-of-body experience and parapsychism.

Respondents’ profiles will be examined along with the type of out-of-body experiences they claim to have had. The analysis of participants will be used to study if there is any influence of specific characteristics (such as sex, age, culture, education, and others) in the frequency, quality, and understanding of the experiences.

Individuals are allowed to participate only once, to ensure the accuracy of results.

DESCRIPTION OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE

The grounds based on which each section was designed are both theoretical and experiential, including: (1) information found in the treatise “Projectiology” (Vieira, 1996), (2) anecdotal cases, (3) observations of the authors during their Conscientiology/Projectiology classes, and (4) from interviews with individuals from Brazil, the USA, and England. Unavoidably, the personal experience of the authors with the phenomenon also contributed to the design of the questionnaire.

Each section contains questions that aim to analyse specific topics of interest to out-of-body experience research, as is described below.

1. Personal Sensations: Illustrates the more common sensations and reactions experienced during disconnection and reconnection to the body. Types of lucid projections: Identifies the more frequently recalled types of out-of-body experience.
2. Control and quality of the projections: Outlines the level of self-control experienced by the participant during the projective experiments, also allowing the identification of extraphysical phenomena that are more frequently experienced.
3. Regularity and Lucidity: Indicates the average periodicity in which the individual experiences the out-of-body experience, and also the level of lucidity of these experiences, allowing verification of the percentage of conscious, semi-conscious and unconscious experiences.
4. Induction of conscious projections: Determines the most efficient techniques to produce the out-of-body experience, as well as the typical behaviour of the OBE experimenter.
5. Information on the participant: Defines if there are any personal characteristics that can facilitate or inhibit the out-of-body experience.
6. Final comments (optional): Open answer that allows the free expression of the participants be that either by giving their opinions relating to the research, discussing the out-of-body experience or any other phenomenon, reporting on personal experience, or contributing any other sort of comment they might wish to make.

To view the questionnaire or respond the survey, please CLICK HERE.

Note: Preliminary results of this research were presented during the 1st International Forum of Consciousness Research in Barcelona, 1999.

Researchers: Wagner Alegretti and Nanci Trivellato

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To view the
questionnaire
or respond
the survey,
please
CLICK HERE

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