ascientific inquiry into the facts and causes of mediumisticphenomena. Its first concern is to establish the occurrence of theclaimed facts. If they are not due to fraud, observational error, thelaws of chancel i.e., if they are found to occur, the next stage ofthe inquiry is to establish the reason of their occurrence, whetherthe known natural laws are sufficient to explain them or whetherthere is reason to suppose the action of unknown forces. See PSYCHICALRESEARCH.