Research
There has been ongoing research into the Transcendental Meditation technique since studies first conducted at UCLA and Harvard University in the early 1970s, with over 340 peer-reviewed studies published. The research has included studies on physiological changes during meditation, clinical applications, medical costs, mental health, addiction, and rehabilitation. TM has been widely utilized in education, and its effects on creativity, intelligence and other aspects of cognition have been studied. Beginning in the 1990s, a focus of research has been the effects of Transcendental Meditation on cardiovascular disease, with over $20 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health.
Research reviews of benefits for the TM technique show results ranging from inconclusive to clinically significant. More research is needed to determine the therapeutic effects of meditation practices. Sources vary regarding their assessment of the quality of research. Some cite design limitations and a lack of methodological rigor, while others assert that the quality is improving and that when suitable assessment criteria are applied, scientific evidence supports the therapeutic value of meditation. According to Canter and Ernst, some studies have the potential for bias due to the connection of researchers to the TM organization. In a published response, TM researchers suggested that these studies were not biased due to the fact that they were conducted in collaboration with independent researchers at several other universities.
Read more about this topic: Transcendental Meditation
Famous quotes containing the word research:
“I did my research and decided I just had to live it.”
—Karina O’Malley, U.S. sociologist and educator. As quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education, p. A5 (September 16, 1992)
“Feeling that you have to be the perfect parent places a tremendous and completely unnecessary burden on you. If we’ve learned anything from the past half-century’s research on child development, it’s that children are remarkably resilient. You can make lots of mistakes and still wind up with great kids.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)
“The working woman may be quick to see any problems with children as her fault because she isn’t as available to them. However, the fact that she is employed is rarely central to the conflict. And overall, studies show, being employed doesn’t have negative effects on children; carefully done research consistently makes this clear.”
—Grace Baruch (20th century)