Investigation Advice

What pieces of advice woud you give to a new Paranormal Investigator or Investigation Group?

get insurance for invests

choose your group carefully..small group with ppl with varied views and knowledge in different fields.

dont be misled by fancy equiptment (you dont need it all to start)

flawless written documentation on invests

offer baseline testing to compare with night of invest

keep open minded,and dont let your mind run away with you on the night

Try locations that wont cost your group too much

My advice....read, read, read, then think, think, think,.......

Angel wrote:

... offer baseline testing to compare with night of invest ...

Not sure what you mean by this ... how are you doing baselines exactly?

I think getting as much knowledge behind you as possible is essential. This is an on going aspect of the job, keep upto date with what is being written out there.

Make some contacts, people you can go to for advice and help when needed.

Think very carefully about buying equipment. Is what you are buying really worth it? Will it be able to do what you expect it to do?

Approach the investigation in a scientific manner. It would be a real shame if you did have an experience and you didn't even have basic controls in place.

I think the acquisition of equipment is something that should be thought very carefully about. As Ophiel says, there's no subsititue for reading and thinking. In most cases, you can ony really know how to use a piece of equipment and make a genuine contribution to paranormal investigation after you've done the background reading.

A lot of groups seem to set up as a leisure pursuit, and of course I enjoy strolling around scary places like Woodchester or Alton Towers as much as the next oddball; I don't think there's anything wrong in principle with just enjoying yourself on a "ghost hunt" rather than an investigation. However, these types of groups need to caefully consider the impact they may have on genuine investigators by spreading stories from self-professed mediums and pooly analysed pieces of dust.

mysteryshopper wrote:

Angel wrote:

... offer baseline testing to compare with night of invest ...

Not sure what you mean by this ... how are you doing baselines exactly?

i dont do invests,but i know groups do baseline testing..where they visit the location prior to the invest night,and document temp,emf readings,etc etc,so they can see if there are any significant changes in this on the night..basically for comparison,a lot of groups do this,despite me not being too fussed on the idea,as you will expect fluctuations.

Doing a proper investigation could turn out to be a lot of work. It is not just all about the evening in the location, you should be looking at tracking down and interviewing witnesses. Doing a thorough site examination. Maybe do historical research. Writing the whole case up. Keeping in touch with the location to so you are upto date with what is being experienced. It is good practice to have the residents there keep a diary of events as they occur. After a nights investigation, go through each experience to see if there is a logocal natural explanation. I think getting some experience or training in interviewing techniques is important.