The field of psychic research is an extremely challenging one. The study of psychic phenomena is called parapsychology. Psychic research covers a wide variety of topics, including hauntings, clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, and reincarnation. Contrary to popular belief, most parapsychologists do not study such things as UFOs, astrology, witchcraft, or other such beliefs. It is not common to hear about psychic research in the mainstream academic journals, because many scientists do not see the field of parapsychology as a legitimate branch of science. Many of the results parapsychologists get in the lab cannot be easily duplicated in another lab and still others are able to find ways to poke holes in theories. This is just one challenge to psychic research.
Another challenge is a lack of funding. While private institutions often receive some funding, most universities no longer have a branch associated with parapsychology. While the United Kingdom is still studying psychic phenomena, only a few privately held institutions in the United States are still studying it. During the 1970s, the United States was very interested in psychic phenomena and parapsychologists were able to branch out in their studies to include beliefs from around the world. They were also able to conduct experiments to study altered states of consciousness and remote viewing. In the 1980s, more than 30 countries around the world were studying psychic phenomena. However, research was inconclusive, and since many scientists laughed at the idea of parapsychology, it was dropped from many universities and many labs were closed. Without the backup of the scientific community as a whole, funds simply were not available.
Another major challenge to parapsychology is fraud. For years, there have many cases of fraud where psychic phenomena were concerned. Since the first fortuneteller, people have claimed that psychics were frauds. It is not easy to find scientific studies that have not been tampered with. It is even more difficult to find studies that can be duplicated reliably over and over again. Most of the successful results are seen as simply flawed equipment or poorly trained researchers rather than anything that is solid. The people who study parapsychology are often called frauds themselves and many abandon the study so that they do not have to face the ridicule. Despite the fact that the scientific community does not recognize parapsychology, there is no shortage of believers who enjoy what evidence there is of their beliefs.