I actually have some research to report, though it deals only with perceptions. A student here needed to create a survey questionnaire for a psychology class and then report back her findings after doing some statistical analysis. She decided to research paranormal beliefs, and in helping her put together the form, I suggested a couple of questions that might be of interest.
She surveyed 144 people in five different classes (all at the same time period--no overlaps); some subjects were teachers, but most of them were students, ranging in age from 18 to 62, with a median age of 25. Among other things, she asked if people believed various things really existed. More people believed in angels than did not--85 to 47, with the rest undecided. A smaller group, about half of the subjects, believed in demons--71 believed, 55 did not, the rest undecided.
Aliens visiting the earth from other planets? 6 believed, 129 did not believe, 9 were undecided.
She asked whether people defined "bigfoot" as
A. a gigantic ape-like creature that really lives in North America--18
B. a fictional or imaginary ape-like creature--120
C. a hoax--6
D. Other--0
At my behest, she also asked which of these is the best definition for "UFO":
A. Alien spaceship--1
B. Unidentified flying object--139
C. Something mistakenly believed to be a material craft--2
D. A spiritual light in the sky--1
E. Other--1
There were 25 questions in all, but I thought these were the most apposite. By the way, I do not necessarily agree with her wording, but I did help her set up the site so the Respondus program would mix the responses offered so they didn't always come in the same order.
