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 in the 1980s and 1990s and the thousands of responses to them from the hundreds of Mass Observers. The directives and responses from the 2000s will follow in 2022.
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's 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