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JOURNAL OF NEAR-DEATH STUDIES
Research Question and Design
Holden (1988) previously presented in depth the rationale for the
study undertaken herein. To summarize briefly, the focus was the
naturalistic near-death out-of-body experience (nND OBE). In this
phase of the near-death experience (NDE), experiencers (NDErs) have
reportedly observed the physical environment, usually in the immedi-
ate vicinity of, but from a vantage point separate from, the physical
body (Irwin, 1985; Ring, 1980; Sabom, 1982). The research question
was, "Are nND OBErs' visual perceptions veridical?" That is, do such
perceptions match consensual reality?
The research design involved placing visual stimuli in the corners of
hospital rooms in which near-death episodes were most likely to occur.
The stimuli were to be placed in such a way as to be visible only from a
vantage point of looking down from the ceiling. No living person was to
know the exact content of the stimuli, thus rendering the design
double-blind. Once the patient was resuscitated from a near-death
episode in one of the "marked" rooms, knowledge of the content of the
visual stimulus would be assessed.
We used for the visual stimuli eight-inch square cards made of
picture matting. Each card was one of six colors: red, yellow, blue,
orange, green, or purple. In the center was one of six symbols: solid
circle, square, diamond, triangle, five-pointed star, or plus sign. Also
printed on each card was one of six single digits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 7.
Six sets of 100 cards each were produced by an artist. Each set
contained cards showing one of the colors, symbols, and numbers. The
artist had determined the combinations through use of a random
numbers table. So, for example, all the blue cards might have con-
tained a triangle with the number 3, all red a square with the number
7, and so forth. She produced these cards in isolation and packed each
set in a box. The six boxes were then sealed and randomly numbered.
Meanwhile, card holders had been constructed of white poster board,
9" square with a %" lip all around. Each was mounted with adhesive
tabs onto two L-shaped gray metal brackets. The holders were to be
mounted in the Emergency Room (ER) and in each room in the Coro-
nary and Intensive Care Units (CCU and ICU). One holder was to be
mounted in each corner, as far down from the ceiling as possible
without the contents being visible to anyone sitting, standing, or lying
in the room.
The backs of all the printed cards were white, and the cards had all
been packed face down in the boxes. Thus it was intended that when
one chose a box at random and opened it, one would not see the face of
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