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File Report Series
Between 1938 and 1950, Mass-Observation staff wrote summaries of the material collected by paid investigators or submitted by volunteer writers. There are approximately 3,000 of these typed "File Reports". They are a good starting-point for research.
About the File Report Series
Scope of reports
The reports vary considerably in length and treatment of topic. In
general, they are based on the whole range of Mass-Observation data-collection
methods (including material sent to Mass-Observation by members of
the volunteer panel in the form of diaries and directive replies
as well as drawing on more traditional survey and questionnaire material
and observations).
Authorship of the Reports
Almost all the Reports were written by paid full or part-time Mass-Observation
personnel based at Mass-Observation’s office in London. On
many of the Reports, the initials of the author have been inserted
and some names appear regularly. Where no names are given, the authorship
is assumed to be collectively "Mass-Observation" but authorship
(and credit for work done) often remained unclear. The different
drafts may have had several authors, and much of the work was undertaken
collaboratively.
'Series' of reports
The sequence also contains a number of Series. These are mostly regularly
produced Reports on wartime morale which were sent to the Ministry
of Information and which resemble each other in terms of structure
and topics covered.
Non Mass-Observation items
The sequence also includes a considerable number of Reports and articles
which were not authored or published by Mass-Observation personnel
but which were kept by Mass-Observation for their own day-to-day
reference within the sequence, and which were transferred with the
Mass-Observation material to the University of Sussex.
Published microfiche sequence
The File Report sequence has been published on microfiche and is available
commercially for purchase. Please see Mass-Observation
website's microform publications page for further details
Catalogue numbering system
The sequence was a working reference resource for Mass-Observation
itself, and the original numbering system has been reproduced in
the current handlist. Several numbers were unused (they were presumably
left so that additional material could be inserted within a chronological
sequence). Gaps in the number sequence do not, therefore, represent
missing files unless this is explicitly stated. In some cases, one
Report has two numbers which may have occurred because there were
one or more drafts on the same topic (for example 1322-3). In citing
the Report the first number in the sequence should be used.
Gaps in sequence/'missing' reports
There are some gaps in the sequence. In some cases, whole Reports have
been lost or mislaid; in other cases, individual pages are absent.
These have been marked as "missing" in the list and were
identified at the time the Mass-Observation papers were transferred
to the University of Sussex. They do not indicate losses since the
Archive was established. However, care should be taken in interpreting
the word "missing". Those File Reports (or selected pages)
which are listed as "missing" may never have existed in
the first place, or may in fact exist in another form as another
File Report. Many of the Reports are drafts, or compilations of different
versions, and the pagination should not be relied upon. Several drafts
of the same Report were often produced, and sections from one Report
are often reproduced within the body of another. Some of the Reports,
both those listed as missing and others, may also be found within
the Topic Collection boxes which hold the primary research data upon
which the Reports are based.
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