Occasional papers

The Archive produces a series of Occasional papers.

Print copies where available can be ordered by downloading our order form or contacting us on 01273 678157 or emailing moa@sussex.ac.uk

Friends of the Archive receive a 50% discount on Mass Observation Archive Occasional papers. For more information on joining, click here or contact us.

The Mass Observation Occasional Paper Series was established to offer a public platform for some of the many original and creative research projects currently being carried out at the Archive. In accepting papers for inclusion in the Series, the editors would give preference to papers which:

The series editors are committed to publishing papers which are of a high quality but which, either because of length, or because they represent work at an early stage of research, may not yet be ready for publication in scholarly journals. Publication in this series would not preclude subsequent formal publication of all (or part) of the paper in other contexts, providing suitable acknowledgement is made. We would particularly like to encourage the submission of papers by new researchers, including school students, undergraduates and adult education students. All papers will be reviewed by the editors and also sent to be refereed by appropriate scholars.

The final paper will be published either online or in print. It should not normally be longer than 40 pages. It will usually be issued with an ISBN. Print copies are sold, at a price to cover production costs and postage & packing, by the MO Archive.

Editors

Ms Dorothy Sheridan (Mass Observation Archive, University of Sussex)
Professor Brian Street (Kings College, London)
Editorial Board
Professor David Bloome
Dr Angus Calder
Professor Liz Stanley
Professor Penny Summerfield
Professor Pat Thane

Currently available titles

No 1 Reading Mass Observation Writing: theoretical and methodological issues in researching the Mass Observation Archive by David Bloome, Dorothy Sheridan and Brian Street, 1993. (£5.00)

Models of reading and their relevance in the process of interpreting M-O material with a particular emphasis on the M-O in the 80sl90s material. A final brief section is on doing case study work. David Bloome is Professor of Education at the University of Vanderbilt, USA, Dorothy Sheridan is the M-O Archivist at University of Sussex and Brian Street is Professor of Language and Literacy in the Education Department at Kings College, London.

No 2 Observing the 'Other'. Mass Observation and 'Race' by Tony Kushner, 1995. (£5.00)

The author's particular research interest is anti-Semitism and this paper makes use of early M-O studies of anti-Semitism including M-O panel replies to the June 1939 directive on race, observational research undertaken by M-O in the East End of London in 1939, postwar material on Palestine and the establishment of the state of Israel, as well as more recent material derived from M-O in the 80s/90s directive replies in response to the "Social Divisions" Directive (Spring 1990). Dr Kushner is the Marcus Sieff Lecturer in the History Department at the University of Southampton.

No 3 Weeping in the Cinema in 1950: a reassessment of Mass Observation material by Sue Harper and Vincent Porter, 1995. (LIMITED STOCK £5.00)

This paper involved a re-working of a 1950 study conducted by Mass Observation on emotional reactions to sad films as described by members of the M-O volunteer panel The re-analysis is compared to M-O original conclusions. Dr Sue Harper is a Lecturer in the School of Social and Historical Studies at The University of Portsmouth. Professor Vincent Porter is at the Centre for Communication and Information Studies, University of Westminster.

No 4 Birth and Power. An examination of some Mass Observation writing by Claire Sornerville and Helena Watson with Amy Fletcher and Anisha Imhasly, 1996. (LIMITED STOCK £5.00)

Claire Somerville, Helena Watson, Amy Fletcher and Anisha lmhasly were undergraduate students in Social Anthropology at the University of Sussex 1993-6. The research for this paper was undertaken as part of their group project for the Social Anthropology major course: "Observation and Explanation". It is based on an analysis of the replies to a directive on personal experiences of giving birth (Autumn/Winter 1993).

No 5 Mass Observation, Gender and Nationhood. Britain in the Falklands War by Lucy Noakes, 1996. (£5.00)

One of the early directive themes of the M-O in the 1980s/90s Project was the Falklands/Malvinas War. Correspondents were asked for their reactions to the news in the media and to report on any direct experiences. In this paper, Lucy Noakes examined the ways in which the war was represented and perceived and looks at links with the Second World War. Lucy Noakes recently completed her PhD on Gender And National Identity During Wartime (Sussex 1996). She teaches and researches in the School of Cultural and Community Studies at the University of Sussex.

No 6 The Family in Time and Space: personal conceptions of kinship by Dorothy Jerrome, 1996. (LIMITED STOCK £5.00)

This paper addresses the conceptual and methodological problems associated with the study of kinship through the words of the Mass-Observers writing in reply to the Winter 1984 Directive and develops a discussion of models of kinship. One of them, particularly popular among writers and interviewees, is linked to a popular pastime: working on one's 'family tree'. The paper also explores the motives of these amateur genealogists. The chapter ends with some conclusions about the nature of qualitative research and the value of Mass Observation and life history material Dr Dorothy Jerrome is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Work Studies and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Southampton

No 7 "Damned anecdotes and dangerous confabulations " Mass Observation as life history by Dorothy Sheridan, 1996. (£5.00)

Consideration of some of the critiques about the 'unrepresentativeness' of the Mass-Observers based chiefly on the M-O in the 1980s/90s Project. Discussion of appropriate methodology for the interpretation and use of the material, that is as case study rather than survey data. Dorothy Sheridan is the Archivist at the Mass Observation Archive, University of Sussex. She directs the contemporary project.

No 8 Mass Observation and Civilian Morale: working class communities during the Blitz 1940-41 by Brad Beavan and John Griffiths, 1998 (£5.00)

One of the most difficult concepts in both contemporary and academic accounts of the Second World War is that of “civilian morale”. This papers uses evidence from the Mass Observation Archive to argue that understanding fluctations in morale can only be understood through an exploration of working class culture during the 1930s and 1940s. The paper examines difficulties of defining “morale” and goes on to argue that the pattern of bombing in urban centres and the continuity of working class institutions helped shape and maintain morale during the critical period of 1940-1.

No 9 Intellectual property, representative experience and Mass Observation by Jenny Shaw 1998. (£5.00)

This paper is based on doing research on the recent (post-1981) autobiographical material in the Mass Observation Archive and examines the idea of intellectual property in relation to the use of the material for research purposes. It also explores Donald Winnicott’s concept of the “transitional object” suggesting that the Archive may serve as a transitional object enabling both its contributors and the researchers to find the “other” in and through the “representative experience” stored in the Archive.

No 10 Mass Observation: a short history by Tom Jeffery, 1999. (£8.00)

This short history of Mass Observation was first published as an Occasional Paper in 1978 by the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. Although much work has been done on the Mass Observation papers since then, Jeffery's paper remains one of the few overviews of the whole enterprise and gives a particularly good insight into the origins of the project and its social and historical context in the 1930s. The 1999 edition is over 60pp long and includes a new Foreword by the editors and a Postcript by Tom Jeffery.

No 11 Health, sickness and the work ethic by Helen Busby, 2000. (LIMITED STOCK £5.00)

This paper takes its theme from a set of autobiographical writings about 'staying well and keeping going' sent to Mass Observation Project correspondents in Autumn 1998. Drawing on a sample of the replies, it aims to look at the ways in which people write about health and illness, in the context of wider debates about the experience and meanings of health and work.

No 12 Beneath the mourning veil: Mass Observation and the death of Diana by James Thomas, 2002 (£5.00)

This paper offers an introductory examination of the collective evidence offered by M-O correspondents of the extraordinary week following the death of Princess Diana. It challanges the underlying myth of the mourning and suggests that far from being 'united in grief', popular attitudes were in fact deeply divided across a variety of themes.