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The academic discipline of parapsychology has faced major challenges throughout its history. An online survey of members of the Parapsychological Association (PA) was undertaken with the aim of identifying the range of significant problems held to confront parapsychology today. This paper presents a collation of the views of PA members. A sample of 114 people participated in the survey, 95 of whom revealed their perception of parapsychology's principal problems. Many such problems would appear to stem from being forced to work within a hostile academic zeitgeist. The lack of funding for research and teaching, lack of an adequate career path, and lack of ready access to mainstream journals were cited as hindering academics wanting to pursue parapsychological research. Associated issues such as the lack of a conclusive database (despite technological advances), the lack of a widely endorsed theory, and the failure to resolve the experimenter-psi effect also are deemed problematic. Some parapsychologists look to a solution in quantum physics, multidisciplinary research, or practical applications of psi research. |
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