Collaborating with research

Researchers of all kinds are invited to collaborate with the Mass Observation Project. This involves joining a unique research relationship which has been built up over many years between the Archive and its volunteer writers. These correspondents write with great candour and trust and are committed to the whole idea of the Mass Observation Project which is dedicated to the collection of views and experiences of ‘ordinary’ people. The resulting material is therefore particularly rich, detailed and personal, often providing insights which are difficult to obtain using other methods of research. Researchers need to be aware that the Project is therefore much more than a simple questionnaire mail-out or data collection service.
The Mass Observation Project is not a survey in the traditional sense and the Panel does not constitute a representative sample of the population. There is no guarantee that contributions from specific kinds of people will be represented in the material. This has implications for the methodological approach to analysis and interpretation which the researcher chooses and the Director can advise if required.

Designing the Directive

Ideally discussions about the use of Mass Observation and the design of a commissioned directive should take place in the early stages of planning the overall research project and advice can be offered during the process of applying for funding. Directives are normally sent out three times a year and a collaboratively produced Directive would normally be expected to fit in with this time-table. The design of the actual directive text is an iterative process between the researcher and the Director of the MOP and usually takes place in the two or three weeks running up to the directive mail out. Researchers will receive a final version of their text integrated into the whole directive. We normally include a note about the commissioning researcher and their interest in the theme in the covering letter which accompanies the directive. Researchers are encouraged not only to look at earlier directives but also at samples of replies as this will help them in their own design. We can also refer researchers to previous published work which has made use of MO directives replies.

Timetable

Mail out of the directive

Directive replies are usually received during the three month period after the directive has been sent out. Access is not granted until the whole batch of material is fully processed. It has to be sorted, checked and boxed in order to comply with our standards of security and privacy. Researchers should plan to start their research on the replies about three months after the directive mail out. However, researchers need to be aware that some correspondents send in replies after the three month period and the collection may continue to grow.

Mailing out of directive	Material ready for use
March/April (Spring)	June/July
June/July (Summer)	September/October
November/December (Autumn/Winter)	February/March

Charges for commissions

Although the Project is based at the Archive, which is supported as an research resource by the University of Sussex, the costs directly incurred by the active collection activities of the Mass Observation Project must be earned from external sources. We are therefore obliged to charge researchers who wish to commission part of a directive on the theme of their research. In the past, we have collaborated with researchers who have been successfully funded by, for example, the ESRC, the AHRC, Leverhulme, the Joseph Rowntree Trust, the BBC, the Nuffield Foundation, various voluntary bodies and researchers' own institutions.
The charge is based on an assessment of the actual costs of running the Project. We operate a sliding scale which reflects both the needs of the Project and the capacity of the researcher to raise appropriate funds. It may be possible to make reduced charge to postgraduate students and freelance researchers and in some circumstances, to waive the charge altogether. If necessary, the fee may be paid retrospectively so that we can make a start on soliciting the required material before funding has been agreed.

Terms of collaboration

The Mass Observation Project is a longitudinal project which has been in operation since 1981. It relies entirely on the trust and commitment of its volunteer correspondents. Any specific directive or collaboration must take into account the long term needs of the Project. Researchers who wish to commission parts of directives are therefore asked to agree the following conditions:

1. The replies to all directives (including those received as a result of a commissioned directive) remain the property of the Mass Observation Archive Trust. The same conditions of access apply as those governing access to the whole Mass Observation collection. Researchers must seek the permission of the Trustees to reproduce extracts in any format, and negotiations over fees for publication of extracts must be made with the Archive’s agent, Curtis Brown.

2. The need to protect the privacy of the Mass Observation correspondents is paramount. No attempt must be made to identify the correspondents, to contact them directly or to reproduce information about them which could lead to their identification. Researchers will have access to basic biographic information about the correspondents including (where known) age, sex, marital status, place of residence and occupation.

3. Original papers may not be removed from the Archive. Work must take place, by appointment, on Special Collection premises in the University of Sussex Library. Any copies are for the exclusive use of the researcher and must not be made available in any format to anyone else without the formal permission of the Trustees.

4. Replies resulting from the directives will normally be made available for general public access (that is, to all researchers including the commissioning researcher) after being sorted and checked. It may be possible in special cases for the researcher to negotiate exclusive access to the replies they have commissioned but this would be limited to the first six months after the directive mailing.

5. The final form of a commissioned directive is subject to the approval of the Director of the Mass Observation Project. The form, length, content and language of the directive must conform to the 'house style' and be consistent with existing practices so that no long-term damage to the project is sustained. In practice, the directive text would be a collaborative production between the Director and the researcher.

6. The fee charged by the Trustees does not include any in-house analysis or copying

7. Every effort will be made to ensure that the response rate is comparable with previous response rates in the Project, but researchers are warned that a specified amount of data can never be guaranteed.

8. The Project can only continue if it charges for commissions. All researchers should seek financial sponsorship and to build the full fee charged by the MOA into any applications to grant-giving bodies. We recognise that not all researchers are able to find the full fee, and we therefore operate a sliding scale of charges. Researchers should recognise, however, that any contribution less than the whole fee amounts to our subsidising their research. The fee which is eventually agreed will reflect both the ability of the researcher to pay and the needs of the Project.
Commissioning researchers will be asked to sign an agreement confirming their acceptance of the conditions above.

Dorothy Sheridan
Mass Observation Project Director
March 2010