Observing the 80s

The Mass Observation Project began in 1981 and directives (sets of questions) were sent to correspondents up to four times a year between 1981 and 1990.  Below you can find the directives as well as folders of responses from  selected correspondents. Some are handwritten and some are typed and they vary considerably in length.

1981

Directive Special Royal Wedding 1981

• Responses to Special Royal Wedding 1981

Directive Summer 1981

• Responses to Summer 1981

Directive Autumn 1981

• Responses to Autumn 1981

1982

Directive Spring 1982

• Responses to Spring 1982

Directive Falklands 1982 &  Directive Falklands postscript 1982

• Responses to Falklands and Falklands postscript 1982

Directive Summer 1982

• Responses to Summer 1982

Directive EEC Special 1982

• Responses to EEC Special 1982

Directive Autumn – Pocket Money 1982

• Responses to Autumn – Pocket Money 1982

Directive Winter – Food 1982

• Responses to Winter – Food 1982

1983

Directive Spring – General Election 1983

• Responses to Spring – General Election 1983

Directive Summer Work – Work 1983

• Responses to Summer – Work 1983

Directive Autumn – Housework 1983

• Responses to Autumn – Housework 1983

Directive Winter – Xmas 1983

• Responses to Winter – Xmas 1983

1984

Directive Spring – Well-being 1984

• Responses to Spring – Well-being  1984

Directive Summer – Banking 1984

• Responses to Summer – Banking 1984

Directive Autumn – USA 1984

• Responses to Autumn – USA  1984

Directive Winter – Relatives 1984

• Responses to Winter – Relatives 1984

1985

Directive Spring 1985

• Responses to Spring –  part 1 Morality 1985

• Responses to Spring  - part 2 poster 1985

1986

Directive Autumn 1986

• Responses to Autumn – Events 1986

• Responses to Autumn – Xmas Day 1986

1987

Directive Spring 1987

• Responses to Spring – AIDS 1987

• Responses to Spring – Waste 1987

Directive Summer – Holidays 1987

• Responses to Summer – Holidays 1987

Directive Special General Election 1987

• Responses to Special General Election 1987

Directive Autumn 1987

• Responses to Autumn – Car 1987

• Responses to Autumn – Weather 1987

1988

Directive Spring – Clothing 1988

• Responses to Spring – Clothing 1988

Directive Summer 1988

• Responses to Summer – Objects 1988

• Responses to Summer – Time 1988

Directive Autumn 1988

• Responses to Autumn  - TV 1988

• Responses to Autumn  - Pastimes 1988

1989

Directive Spring 1989

• Responses to Spring – Food 1989

• Responses to Spring – Disasters 1989

Directive Summer 1989

• Responses to Summer – Conduct 1989

• Responses to Summer – EEC 1989

Directive Autumn 1989

• Responses to Autumn – Drugs 1989

• Responses to Autumn – Britain 1989

1990

Directive Spring  1990

• Responses to Spring – Retrospective 1990

• Responses to Spring  - Social Divisions 1990

The responses are stored in Google Drive where you will see a list of folders, one for each correspondent.  Clicking on a folder will take you to a PDF file which you can print or download. Mass Observation correspondents are anonymous – each has a unique reference number and you can find out a little more about them from our table.

A few correspondents also sent in additional writings, known as special reports, and you can find them in a separate Special Report folder.  They are collated by correspondent and you can find out about the topics they address in the metadata table.

Special Reports