Welcome to Mass Observation Project. Launched in 1981 by the University of Sussex as a rebirth of the original 1937 Mass Observation, its founders' 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 between 1980 and 2010 and the thousands of responses to them from the hundreds of Mass Observers.
Where to Start?
Find out more about the background of Mass Observation Project in our Nature and Scope, then learn how to best utilize the functionality of the resource in our User's Guide to searching and filtering.
User Guide
"If you're interested in the social, cultural and emotional pulse of Britain at the end of the twentieth century, Mass Observation Project is the obvious place to look. It is an extraordinary resource."
Prof. Matt Cook
Birkbeck, University of London