Forever Family Foundation conducted an on-line survey from September to November 2011. The survey was open to anyone who was either directed to the website via a newsletter article, email to members, or those who simply happened to visit the foundation website. Responders were asked a series of ten questions concerning survival of consciousness, after death communication, mediumship, meditation and religious orientation. Participation in the survey was anonymous and strong, with a total of 965 responses tabulated.
According to the Foundation Vice-President Bob Ginsberg, “The data collected does not hold scientific validity due to the nature of the respondent pool, as we must assume that people visiting our website are not necessarily representative of the general population. However, many will find the data to be very interesting as it relates to personal experiences and a belief in an afterlife.”
Some highlights from the comprehensive summary of the results are as follows:
1) Participants were asked to characterize their belief that consciousness survives physical death.
66% responded that they were a very strong” believer 21% characterized their belief as “strong” 12% Were open to the possibility 1% Did not believe
2) Participants were asked if they experienced any After Death Communication, and if so, in what forms.
73% reported having a dream where they were visited by a deceased person 63.7% reported having a “sense of presence” from someone who was deceased 44.5% reported directly smelling an unexplained scent associated with someone deceased 43.3% reported witnessing some unexplained physical manifestation 43.1% reported receiving a very specific piece of information communicated through a medium 38.6% reported feeling the touch of someone who is deceased 33.4% reported directly receiving a telepathic message from a deceased entity 27.7% reported visually seeing a deceased entity 25.5% reported directly hearing the voice from the deceased without the use of electronics 10.2% reported having had a near death experience 9.3% reported hearing the voice of the deceased via electronic means 7.1% reported never experiencing any type of after death communication
3) Those who have experienced after death communication were questioned about the frequency of such communication.
42.8% responded occasionally 23.6 responded rarely 18.2% responded often 15.4% responded very often
4) Participants were asked to characterize their observance of formal religion.
43.2% answered that they considered themselves to be spiritual, but did not practice any formal religion 21.8% described a very relaxed observance of a formal religion 21.6% described a moderate observance of a formal religion 9.6% indicated that they do not observe a formal religion 3.8% reported strict observance of a formal religion
5) Participants were asked how many private sittings with mediums they had.
38.8% of responders never had a private sitting with a medium 12% had one sitting 11.6% had two sittings 9.4% had three sittings 10.7% had nine or more sittings The remainder reported between 4 and 8 sittings
6) Those who reported having private medium readings were asked how often.
40.6% reported once every few years 24.8% have only gone once 16.8% report once a year 15.9% report several times per year 1% report more than once per week 1% report several times per month
7) Those who reported having been to private medium sessions were asked to characterize the evidence received.
29.7% described strong evidence mixed with relatively little incorrect information 22.9% described good evidence mixed with some incorrect information 17.3% described very strong evidence with essentially no incorrect information 17.4% described a mixture of correct information and incorrect information, but enough evidence to be convinced that communication with the deceased occurred 8.6% reported little evidential information received 4.1% reported no evidential information
8) Participants were asked if they practiced meditation
27.8% never meditated 23.2% rarely meditated 26.9% occasionally meditated 12.2% meditated often 9.9% meditate regularly
9) Participants were asked if they ever set their intention by asking a deceased loved one to communicate with them directly.
69.1% answered Yes 30.9% answered No
10) Participants were asked which type of communication from a deceased loved one they would prefer.
72.9% answered direct communication 25.9% answered communication through a medium 1.2% were not interested in communicating with the dead ♥