Mass Observation Project

Mass Observation Project is the digitized archive (dating from 1981-2009) of the Mass Observation Project at the University of Sussex. This project sends public opinion questionnaires to ordinary Britons several times a year. Questionnaires cover current events, social trends, national and global politics, and everyday life. This collection includes the questionnaires and the responses, providing a primary source perspective of historical events and their perceptions among British people. This collection contains 3 modules covering 3 time periods:

• Module 1: 1980s
• Module 2: 1990s
• Module 3: 2000s

The collection includes the printed questionnaires (referred to as directives), typed and handwritten responses, newspaper cuttings, photographs, leaflets, and ephemera.

This University of Sussex project was inspired by the work of Mass-Observation, a U.K. social research organization that collected data on the lives of ordinary Britons from 1937 through the mid-20th century. The archives of this predecessor organization Mass-Observation can be found in the collection Mass Observation Online.