Study procedure

written by claimant Anita Ikonen, on January 8 2009

latest update January 27 2009

The procedure outlined here is still under editing

until this document says FINAL VERSION

This is Version 2

Location and Arrangements

The claimant is currently working on arranging a location for the study. A mall that was
asked declined the use of their location for this study and for the time being other
commercial sites are not asked and the claimant is expecting a reply from the City of
Charlotte to her questions about whether a study of this form is in accordance with law,
and whether a permission can be obtained to conduct this study in a public area that is
owned by the city.
Two separate locations are required for the study, referred to as location-1 and
location-2 in this procedure. This is so that the volunteers are gathered at and fill in their
health forms at a location that the claimant can not see, so to reduce the availability for
the claimant to receive clues about what the volunteers have answered or from their
behavior pattern or movement. The locations need only be places where people can have
a seat and there are currently no special requirements on the location. Claimant will take
notes on whether the details of the location have any adverse effects on her claimed
medical perceptions. If this 1st study does not falsify the paranormal claim, then any
necessary changes to the location can be made for the 2nd study based on what is learned
by this first one.
The claimant has received notice from six members of the FACT (Forsyth Area
Critical Thinkers) Skeptics Group of Winston Salem North Carolina who have expressed
interest in participating in the study. The involvement of skeptics is crucial in order to
raise the quality of the outcome of the study. The study is not a test and can not provide
any evidence in support of a paranormal phenomenon regardless of what the results may
suggest, since some forms of cold reading will be available. This study procedure
requires the participation of four skeptics. Each have different assignments in this study
as described under reference to skeptic-1, skeptic-2, skeptic-3, and skeptic-4. Only with
the consent of each participating skeptic would their identities be revealed.
A sign is prepared for the study and placed at location-1. It introduces the study
and asks for persons 18 years and older to volunteer for the study. The claimant prepares
the sign and also prepares the information page and health forms that are required for the
study. The claimant may decide to place out ads in the city to attract people to volunteer
for the study, if she obtains permission from the city to do so.

Study Procedure
Participating skeptics are assigned the assignments of skeptic-1, skeptic-2, skeptic-3 and
skeptic-4 respectively and according to their interest in each of these assignments. The
sign is placed at location-1. Skeptic-1 remains at location-1 at all times. Packets of papers

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are stapled together in fours, they contain: an information page, a volunteer’s form, a
claimant’s form, a skeptic’s form. The volunteer’s form, claimant’s form, and skeptic’s
form are the health questionnaires and all contain the same health questions in the same
format, and in a packet of four all three health forms have the same identification number
on their top margin with which they are to be matched later after the study as pertaining
to the same volunteer. When persons approach who are interested in volunteering skeptic-
1 detaches the information page with the volunteer’s form from a packet and hands these
two to the person while holding on to the associated claimant’s form and skeptic’s form.
The information page gives additional information about the study. Those who have read
the information page and decide to volunteer remain at location-1 and fill in their health
form. Skeptic-1 is available to answer any further questions that the volunteers may have.
Once the volunteer has filled in their health form they are ready to be taken by
skeptic-2 to location-2 one at a time. Skeptic-1 receives the health form from the
volunteer and writes down some identifying characteristic about the volunteer written in
the same way on all three health forms (volunteer’s, claimant’s, skeptic’s). This should be
a simple key word that provides additional matching among the three health forms, such
as “red shirt, glasses, brown hair”. Skeptic-1 double-checks that the numbers of the three
forms match with each other, then takes the filled in volunteer’s form, folds it in half and
places it in his/her closely guarded possession, and hands the associated claimant’s form
and skeptic’s form to skeptic-2. Skeptic-2 goes with the volunteer and with the claimant’s
form and skeptic’s form to location-2.
Skeptic-3 is at location-2 and remains there at all times. The volunteer takes a seat
at location-2. Skeptic-2 double-checks that the identifying numbers and the identifying
terms on both claimant’s form and skeptic’s form match with one another. Claimant and
skeptic-4 are allowed to enter location-2 once the volunteer has settled in. Skeptic-2
hands the claimant’s form to the claimant and the skeptic’s form to skeptic-4.
Both the claimant and skeptic-4 check the identifying terms on their forms to see
that these match with the volunteer that they are to see, and the claimant checks that her
form says “claimant’s form”, and skeptic-4 checks that his/her form says “skeptic’s
form”. There will be no speaking between the volunteer and claimant and skeptic-4
during the time of the viewing. Skeptic-2 remains at location-2 until this particular
viewing is finished.
The claimant and skeptic-4 look at the volunteer and answer their health forms
based on their impressions or perceptions, and they both fill in their forms at the same
time. Claimant and skeptic-4 can not see each others’ answers. Skeptic-4 is encouraged to
attempt any skills of cold reading or guessing to form his/her answers, or even to produce
random answers, so that a very rough and probably even useless estimate of the type of
correlation between the answers of someone who is not a paranormal claimant and the
answers of the volunteers can be estimated at the end of the study and kind of
“subtracted” from the apparent correlation with the claimant’s answers. The claimant
estimates that it would take from 5 and up to 15 minutes to view each volunteer. The
volunteer is of course free to leave early and at any time.
At the end of a particular viewing, the claimant and skeptic-4 fold their forms in
half to conceal their answers and hand these over to skeptic-3 who ensures that he/she
receives both forms and checks that their identification numbers and identifying terms
match and keeps these in his/her possession.

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 Once a viewing is over the claimant and skeptic-4 leave location-2 again so that
they can not see the next volunteer arriving, and this is to again reduce some of the
possible external clues that might be available based on a volunteer’s movement. Skeptic-
2 returns to location-1 and either remains at location-1 until the next volunteer is ready to
be taken to location-2 at which skeptic-2 follows the next volunteer to location-2, or if the
next volunteer is not ready yet skeptic-2 remains at location-1 until then. When the next
volunteer is taken to location-2 the procedure is repeated as above.
This practical part of the study is considered finished either when the claimant has
a reason for it, or when participating skeptics all agree that there is reason to end the
study, or if no volunteers can be found and it is mutually agreed to end the study, or for
any other unforeseen reasons. Breaks can be taken at any mutually agreed on time, or
when the claimant reports that she needs a break.
More than these four skeptics may attend the study if they want to see it take
place and perhaps make some notes. The claimant reserves the right to have plenty of say
in who is assigned what position (1 through 4), and the right to decline a person from
participating or even attending the study. Positions 1 through 4 might be assigned to
persons who do not consider themselves to be skeptics, if four skeptics can not be found
for this study.

Documentation
The study will be documented in writing. The claimant brings a notebook and takes notes
on various things relating to the study and these notes will be made available on her
webpage after the study. The claimant should take notes on any complaints or concerns
that she has that might affect the performance of the perceptions, the “excuses” so to
speak, since any excuses made after the results have become available hold much less
weight at that point.
All participating skeptics are encouraged to write down their observations and
thoughts on how the study takes place. There is no formal format to what needs to be
written and each is free to use their own discretion at that. Skeptics are encouraged to
take notes on for instance what cold reading might have been available and what
procedures need to be changed or implemented if there is to be a second study or a test
later on. Skeptics or claimant might photograph and/or video record parts of the study,
such as the set-up and procedure, however naturally keeping in mind the privacy of the
volunteers.

Results
At the end of the study skeptic-1 holds on to the volunteer’s forms and skeptic-3 holds on
to the claimant’s forms and skeptic’s forms. Since skeptic-3 has twice as many forms to
work with than skeptic-1, skeptic-3 may choose to hand over either the claimant’s forms
or the skeptic’s forms to another participating skeptic who will then assume full and
lasting responsibility for those forms. The time for comparing the forms needs to be
mutually agreed on so that the skeptics with the forms can all attend, and the claimant is
entitled to request that she attend. Skeptic-1, skeptic-2, skeptic-3 and skeptic-4 are all
entitled to request their own attendance since they participated. Attendance is not
mandatory by claimant or those skeptics who do not hold original copies of forms.

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 The claimant is entitled to, and will most likely request, photocopies of the forms
for her own records (and will of course assume any costs of copies). The original copies
of the forms remain in possession of the skeptic(s) who were assigned to have them. If
the skeptics and claimant collectively agree, all forms (volunteer’s, claimant’s, skeptic’s)
might be handed over to a single skeptic who holds on to all of them, once the claimant
has received her own photocopies.
The results can not be calculated in terms of a point system and is not
quantitative. I propose that the best way to present the results is to publish all of the
forms, either scanned copies, or by typing up the answers. All forms weigh equally and
claimant can not request that any be omitted. Forms may only be omitted if skeptics and
claimant mutually agree that there is a reason to do so, and any such omitted forms will
be accounted for and an explanation given as to why they were omitted. Anyone is
allowed to compare the answers on the forms and to evaluate their results and to make
conclusions. There is a lot of work involved in publishing the results which is why the
claimant suggests that she publishes the results based on her photocopies of the forms and
asks that one or several of the participating skeptics then double-checks and confirms the
authenticity of the published material. If one of the participating skeptics feels
encouraged to do so he/she may also find a way to publish the results on the internet.
Claimant will publish conclusions of the study on her website. At their choice,
participating skeptics are encouraged to engage in some discussion and analysis on the
outcome of the study.
The results of this study will be made available. Keep in mind that this is not a
test and it can not conclude in favor of ESP, nor can it necessarily conclude against ESP if
unfavorable circumstances take place during the study.
Any of the participating skeptics may choose to become spokespersons for this
study to receive questions from others regarding the study. Participating skeptics may
choose to only participate in the study and to not become a spokesperson for the study. At
any future date, of course, a skeptic who chose to become a spokesperson can choose to
end that position of a spokesperson so that no further questions or comments regarding
the study may be forwarded to them.

Goals
*For the claimant to gain generally more experience with her claimed perceptions.
*To produce a better list of claimed perceptions in terms of the types of ailments and the
frequency of how often these were perceived. And to see whether this list includes
ailments that can be used on a real test.
*To produce an estimate of the extent of correlation between the claimant’s medical
perceptions and the perception that a volunteer has of their health.
*Since the perceived extent of an ailment is also asked for, to deduce what kind of
correlation is between the extent of an ailment perceived by the claimant and by the
volunteer.
*To find out how often I might detect an ailment and how often I would miss it, so that
we can get an estimate of the total number of volunteers with this ailment that are
required for a test, should one be arranged later on.
*To try out various test conditions, such as seeing the volunteer from behind rather than
front-view, different increased distances between claimant and volunteers, to establish the

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average time it takes for the claimant to finish viewing a person, and eventually to look
into possibilities of screens that limit how much of the volunteer can be seen by the
claimant.
*In the case there is no ability or skill in reading health information by looking at people,
neither a paranormal skill or a cold reading skill, then the goal is to falsify such a non-
ability at this stage of the investigation so that elaborate tests need not be arranged for
later on.

A Friendly Reminder
Please read the page on www.visionfromfeeling.com/study.html for more related
information regarding this study, such as the objectives of the study.
This is not a test. It can under no circumstances provide evidence toward an ESP ability.
It may provide evidence that indicates no ESP ability. The purpose of this study is to
learn more about the claimant’s paranormal claim and experience in order to form a
clearer claim for future tests. The purpose of this study is not to prove anything, it is to
obtain more knowledge about the paranormal claim.

Results may reveal inaccuracy but claimant’s recorded accounts of disturbance and other
circumstances of the study should be taken into account before concluding against her
claim. For instance if the location is very noisy or if there were other distractions
accounted for at that time. The claimant is reminded to carefully record any experienced
distractions during the study since these might otherwise not be considered once the
results have become available.

*Original and unmodified versions of these documents are obtained through the webpage
www.visionfromfeeling.com

*Although members of the Forsyth Area Critical Thinkers Skeptics Group have
expressed interest in participating in this study they are not directly affiliated to my
paranormal investigation. This study was designed entirely by the claimant herself, and
the ideas and assumptions expressed in this study procedure as well as in the other
documentation written by the claimant about this paranormal investigation do not
necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions held by individual members of the FACT
Skeptics Group, or of the group as a whole.