JMVRI Issue No. 24 is dedicated to the memory of Dr Michael C. Dillbeck and to the comprehensive body of research associated with the Maharishi Effect, a phenomenon of which Dr Dillbeck was particularly expert. The first is a moving tribute to the life and work of Dr Dillbeck by his friend and colleague Dr David Orme-Johnson, titled “Dr Michael C. Dillbeck’s Contribution to Integrating Modern Science and Vedic Science” (pp. 13–24). The second is “Five Points on the Reliability and Validity of Maharishi Effect Research” (pp. 25–41), also by Dr David Orme-Johnson. The third article by Dr David Orme-Johnson and Dr Lee Fergusson, titled “Published Research on the Maharishi Effect by Type and Level” (pp. 43–59), is a definitive current list of 92 research studies and books on the Maharishi Effect. The final article in this Issue 24 is a research paper titled “Group Practice of Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Implications for Social Work” by Sandy Gowing Price (pp. 61–93).
JMVRI Issue Number 24
JMVRI Paper 24.2
Five Points on the Reliability and Validity of Maharishi Effect Research
Author: David Orme-Johnson
This paper can be downloaded via the following link:
Citation: Orme-Johnson, D. W. (2024). Five points on the reliability and validity of Maharishi Effect research. Journal of Maharishi Vedic Research Institute, 24, 25–41.
Summary (excerpt):
This paper outlines some of the key points related to the reliability and validity of research on the Maharishi Effect, and includes a list of 219 international, peer-reviewed journals that have published research on both the Maharishi Effect and its underlying technologies—the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program—which generate the Maharishi Effect.
Reliability is the degree to which scientific measure accurately represents the phenomenon under investigation and whether or not a research design, test instrument, and the tools and techniques used to generate scientific results have been consistently applied and can therefore be considered dependable. Validity is the degree to which any given scientific research study correctly and authentically measures the phenomenon under investigation and not something else.