Editing Paranormal (section)

===Participant-observer approach===
[[Image:Nightshot2.png|thumb|left|A [[ghost hunting|ghost hunter]] taking an [[EMF measurement|EMF reading]], which proponents claim may be connected to paranormal activity]]

While parapsychologists look for [[quantitative research|quantitative]] evidence of the paranormal in laboratories, a great number of people immerse themselves in [[qualitative research]] through [[Participant observation|participant-observer]] approaches to the paranormal. Participant-observer methodologies have overlaps with other essentially qualitative approaches, including [[Phenomenology (psychology)|phenomenological]] research that seeks largely to describe subjects ''as they are experienced'', rather than to explain them.<ref name="Husserl">{{cite book|title=Logical Investigations |last=Husserl |first=Edmund |author-link=Edmund Husserl |year=1970 |publisher=Routledge Kegan Paul Books |isbn=978-0-7100-6618-3}}</ref>{{page needed|date=December 2014}}

Participant observation suggests that by immersing oneself in the subject that is being studied, a researcher is presumed to gain understanding of the subject. Criticisms of participant observation as a data-gathering technique are similar to criticisms of other approaches to the paranormal, but also include an increased threat to the [[Objectivity (science)|scientific objectivity]] of the researcher, unsystematic gathering of data, reliance on [[Subjectivity|subjective]] measurement, and possible observer effects (i.e. observation may distort the observed behavior).<ref name="Becker">{{cite book|title=Problems of Inference and Proof in Participant Observation |edition=Bobbs Merrill Reprint |last=Becker |first=Howard S. |author-link=Howard S. Becker |year=1993 |publisher=Irvington |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8290-3493-6}}</ref>{{page needed|date=December 2014}} Specific data-gathering methods, such as recording EMF ([[electromagnetic field]]) readings at haunted locations, have their own criticisms beyond those attributed to the participant-observer approach itself.

Participant observation, as an approach to the paranormal, has gained increased visibility and popularity through [[reality television]] programs like ''[[Ghost Hunters (TV series)|Ghost Hunters]]'', and the formation of independent ghost hunting groups that advocate immersive research at alleged paranormal locations. One popular website for ghost hunting enthusiasts lists over 300 of these organizations throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.<ref name=ghostgroups>{{cite web |url=http://www.ghostvillage.com/links/links_groups.shtml |title=Paranormal Groups |publisher=Ghostvillage.com |access-date=2014-06-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070102094816/http://www.ghostvillage.com/links/links_groups.shtml |archive-date=2 January 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>