Mass Observation Project, 1981-2009: Module III, 2000s
In addition to Module I, 1980s and Module II, 1990s, Northwestern University Libraries now have access to Module III, 2000s of the Mass Observation Project.
Launched in 1981 by the University of Sussex as a rebirth of the original 1937 Mass Observation, its aim was to document the social history of Britain by recruiting volunteers to write about their lives and opinions. Still growing, it is one of the most important sources available for qualitative social data in the UK. This collection consists of the directives (questionnaires) sent out by Mass Observation in the 1980s and 1990s and the thousands of responses to them from the hundreds of Mass Observers. Topics covered are wide-ranging, from the deeply personal (sex, family) to everyday life (shopping, holidays), to global affairs. The digitized printed directives, prose responses to directives, newspaper cuttings, photographs, leaflets and other ephemera cover key themes in current affairs, family, home; leisure; politics, society, culture and the media, and work, finance and the economy.
