A poster advertising a 'Stop Trident' Easter demonstration in bold orange text, laid on top of a pink sheet of text titled 'The Mass Observation Project: Summer 2004 Directive'.

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 utilise the functionality of the resource in our User's Guide to searching and filtering.

 

Nature and Scope

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User Guide

Browse by Directive

Browse a list of all the directives in Mass Observation Project.

Filter by Key Topics

Filter the responses using the key topics and events tagged to each.

Essays and Videos

Learn more about how to get the most out of Mass Observation Project through written and video essays by expert scholars.

Chronology

Use our searchable chronology of 1980s, 1990s and 2000s Britain to place the directives and responses in context.
Two leaflets and a typed directive. The first leaflet in yellow and says "AIDS: What you must know before you give blood". The second is red and advertises a 10% mortgage rate offer.

"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