A good paranormal investigator knows the importance of research. You should not go into an investigation without any knowledge of the site you are studying. This list shows some of the basic research steps you can take to help your investigations.
Interviews
Interviewing people who know the site, or if a home the occupants, is your first port of call. An interview can give you invaluable insight into the causes of the alleged haunting. In the case of individuals who create false stories an interview can potentially expose their lies, just remember that some people can be very frightened when experiencing a haunting and their story may have inconsistencies so do not take this as proof that they are lying, you will need to use your best judgement. Talking to historians or the elderly can give you little known pieces of information as these people have either spent their whole lives studying the site or even living in or nearby and will often know things that can’t be found in newspapers or most history books.
Library
The local library will have many books that relate to the history of the area, and if you are studying an older or famous site you may find books that relate specifically to the site. You may also be able to search through their microfiche collection of old newspapers if you know an important date you may find some article in the paper from around that time that can give you clues.
The Internet
Although a great research tool, the internet can also be a hindrance. With the ability for individuals to create pages on any subject you could find a lot of misinformation. Wikipedia is trusted by many people as 100% factual but it is an encyclopaedia written and edited by the public, bias and half-truths can be found on many of their pages and all information should be taken with a grain of salt.
