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Mass Observation Online

The Archive of Mass Observation has been described as "an invaluable resource for sociologists and cultural historians" and "a fascinating source of precious data for researchers."

It has been used by anthropologists, cultural and social historians, literary scholars, performance artists, sociologists, and those working in education, war studies and gender studies – all of whom testify to the richness of this resource, which opens up a seemingly limitless opportunity for essays, project work and fresh research.

A pioneering social research organisation, Mass Observation was founded in 1937 by anthropologist Tom Harrisson, film-maker Humphrey Jennings and poet Charles Madge. Their aim was to create an 'anthropology of ourselves', and by recruiting a team of observers and a panel of volunteer writers they studied the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. This landmark digital project opens up revolutionary access to the archive.

Featuring Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) for full-text searching

Mass Observation Online offers transformative research possibilities with full-text searching across all manuscript documents using Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR).

HTR is a ground-breaking search technology utilising artificial intelligence to deliver document-level full-text search results in manuscript material. The HTR application uses complex algorithms and artificial intelligence to determine possible combinations of characters in handwritten documents. This enables relevant handwritten text to be identified at document level, allowing users to easily navigate between highlighted search results. Read more or watch the demonstration video.

Highlights
  • Diaries - the most intimate and detailed records of the day-to-day lives of respondents during and immediately after World War II
  • The 'Worktown Collection' - the first study of 'working class' Britain ever undertaken, focusing on the cities of Bolton and Blackpool between 1937 and 1940. Includes a wide selection of photographs by Humphrey Spender
  • Directives, 1939-1955 - responses to wide-ranging questions on topics such as race, class, religion, politics, the atomic bomb and World War II
  • The Day Surveys, 1937-1972 - a complete set of over 2,000 full-text searchable documents, providing summaries of the findings of Mass Observation studies on an immense range of subjects, from cinema-going, fashion, radio and music to sex, marriage, politics and more
  • Topic Collections, 1837-1965 - represent the 'raw materials' behind many of Mass Observation's published studies and include questionnaires, interviews and observations as well as contemporary emphemera on subjects ranging from reading, holidays, dreams, gambling, and smoking habits to sexual behaviour, propaganda, capital punishment and the Korean War
  • Mass Observation's Publications - Many now out of print, these books appeared during Mass Observation's first period of activity, 1937-1950.

Key data

Period covered

1937-1967

Source archive

  • The Mass Observation Archive, University of Sussex, Special Collections
  • Food
  • Fuel, 1937 - 1942
  • Air raids, 1938 - 1945
  • Personal appearance and clothes, 1938 - 1954
  • Shopping, 1939 - 1963
  • Commercial advertising
  • Commodities
  • Youth
  • Cooperative stores
  • Children and education, 1937 - 1952
  • Day nurseries
  • Adult and higher education
  • Evacuation, 1939 - 1944
  • Housing, 1938 - 1948
  • General elections, 1945 - 1955
  • London Survey, 1940
  • Women in wartime, 1939 - 1945
  • Astrology and spiritualism
  • Dogs in wartime
  • Post war hopes
  • Public administration and social services in wartime, 1941 - 1942
  • Diaries
  • Day surveys
  • Questionnaires and responses
  • File reports
  • Original manuscript and typescript papers
  • Printed publications
  • Photographs
  • Interactive maps
  • Stephen Brooke, York University, Toronto
  • Natacha Chevalier, University of Sussex
  • Fiona Courage, Special Collections Manager and Curator of the Mass Observation Archive, University of Sussex
  • Ben Highmore, University of Sussex
  • James Hinton, University of Warwick
  • Benjamin Lander, Dawson College, Montreal
  • Claire Langhamer, University of Sussex
  • Bob Malcolmson, Author and Social Historian
  • Patricia Malcolmson, Author and Social Historian
  • Laura Marcus, University of Sussex
  • Mike Savage, London School of Economics
  • Dorothy Sheridan MBE, Trustee of the Mass Observation Archive and former Director
  • Bob Snape, University of Bolton
  • Brian Street, King’s College London
  • Jennie Taylor, University of Sydney
  • Lesley Whitworth, University of Brighton
  • Great Britain, Republic of Ireland and Northern Irish Studies
  • Sociology, Social History and Social Science
  • A complete set of the File Reports, 1937-1951, with full text searching ability
  • Access to all of the Day Surveys 1937-1938, Directives 1939-1955 and Diaries, 1939-1967
  • Topic Collections covering: Famous Persons; Household Budgeting; Juvenile Delinquency; Korea; Peace & the Public; Radio Listening; World Outlook; Film; Reading Habits; Dreams; Religion; Victory Celebrations; Capital Punishment; Posters; Smoking Habits; Drinking Habits; Gambling; and the September 1946 exhibition held at the Victoria & Albert Museum "Britain Can Make It"
  • The 'Worktown Collection'
  • Eighteen contextual essays by leading scholars describing the archive and suggesting research and teaching strategies, and four occasional papers
  • Photographs by Humphrey Spender, an interactive map and chronology, and much valuable supporting material

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