3 Freudian Critique of Religion & its Corollaries

January 26, 2014January 26, 2014 selvam Psychology of Religion

DOWNLOAD MY CLASS NOTES IN PDF: <<CLICK HERE>>
WATCH A VIDEO ON YOUTUBE: <<CLICK HERE>>
SOME SUMMARY POINTS:
Religion: an illusion and a delusion;
Religion was once necessary to restrain man’s violent nature in the early stages of civilization, but today science and reason can replace it (The Future of an Illusion, 1927).
Freud’s Conclusion: all religious belief can be explained through its function to society, not for its relation to the truth.
Religious rituals have the characteristics of neurotic compulsions (like washing hands):

Repeated;
To be performed exactly;
Feeling good (calm) when completed;
Anxiety if omitted or ‘not performed rightly”.

By providing a possibility for expression of collective neurosis, religion might protect us from individual neurosis.

4 Jung on Religion

January 25, 2014February 2, 2014 selvam Psychology of Religion

Undoubtedly Jung’s contribution to religion is persistent up to this day. Particularly among transpersonal psychologists (in the study of consciousness) Jungian terminologies have proved useful. My class notes introduce the student to a set of terminology that typical of Jung, which are basic to understanding him. Final section of the class focuses on the implication of Jungian concepts for Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.
DOWNLOAD MY CLASSNOTES IN PDF: PR04 Jung
WEB-SOURCES ON JUNG
1. The Jung Page: A complete website dedicated to Jungian Psychology
2. Jung Lexican: Terms and Concepts related to Jungian psychology
INTERESTING VIDEOS OF JUNG ON YOUTUBE:
1. Face to Face interview by BBC
2. The World Within – Jung in his own words

1 A Note about my Notes of Research Methods

January 23, 2014January 23, 2014 selvam General Research Methods

Qualitative Data Collection: Open-ended Questionnaires

January 23, 2014 selvam Qualitative Research Methods

Developing a questionnaire for Qualitative Research:
Some Hints
First few questions could include demographic variables: age, gender, educational background, etc. Include only variables that are relevant to your research. Name is not to be included since generally questionnaires are to be anonymous.
For a qualitative research your questions have to be open-ended. The answers to these questions could be filled by the participant or the researcher could fill in after the interview.
The following points could improve an open-ended questionnaire:

A question that begs a yes/no answer is not an open-ended question. Example of a closed question: Do you go to church on Sundays? Example of an open-ended question: What do you normally do on Sundays?
Similarly avoid questions that might beg a one-word answer. Example of a one-word answer question: When did you finish college? Such question could be in the section on demographic questions.
Do not ask leading questions, those are questions that suggest the […]

Some hints on publishing in peer reviewed journals

January 23, 2014 selvam Academics

I do not have much to boast about in this area. My H-index Google Scholar score is 2. I have published five articles in peer-reviewed journals. The attachment presents the lessons that I have learnt in this process. <<250114 Publishing handout>>