must pertain to a paranormal claim
Organizing the Presentation Part I: “Claim” Describe the paranormal claim in detail. Consider this the “data” that you’ll be trying to explain later. It should be very concrete and specific to the extent possible. To illustrate, Too general: “Some people believe that religious objects have mysterious properties.” Just right: “In July of 1978, eleven people claimed to have witnessed tears of blood streaming from the eyes of a painting of the Virgin Mary. Here is an account of what allegedly happened…” This section also should include any paranormal explanations, however weird or ridiculous, that have been offered for the paranormal claims. Also, What made the claim “paranormal” from a scientific perspective Details and context People’s experiences, thoughts, feelings, perceptions about it Uncritical evidence and explanations offered social influences that might have been operating Part II: “Method” Review and justify the scientific criteria that you will use to evaluate the claims. An excellent jumping-off point are the “Questions for Analyzing Paranormal Claims” provided early in the semester. Run through each
criterion and briefly explain why each is important. Do not talk about your paranormal claim in this section! Part III: “Analysis” Apply the analysis criteria from Part II to the paranormal claim described in Part I. Use the list of criteria in Part II to guide your analysis step by step, systematically. Essentially, you’re offering a non-paranormal explanation in this section. Part IV: “Conclusion” This is a place for wrapping-up, and also for some creativity. Is the phenomenon explained by “normal” means, or does it appear to be truly paranormal? What other kinds of phenomena might your analysis help us to understand? Feel free to explore other uses of this section as well.
