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Two studies using time-series impact assessment analysis found a significant reduction in weekly fatalities due to motor vehicle accidents, homicides, and suicides in the United States (1982­1985) and Canada (1983­1985) when the size of the groups practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme at Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa, exceeded the square root of one percent of the U.S. population, or of the U.S. and Canadian population together for an effect seen in Canada. During periods when the size of the groups were smaller than the square root of one percent of the U.S. and Canadian populations, fatality rates were higher. The use of time series methodology ensures that these effects could not be due to random variation, seasonal cycles, or long-term trends in the two countries.

Test of a field theory of consciousness and social change: Time series analysis of participation in the TM-Sidhi programme and reduction in violent death in the U.S. Social Indicators Research 22: 399­418, 1990. Index of charts