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Mass-Observation was a United Kingdom social research organisation founded in 1937. Their work ended over the early 1950s, but was revived by the University of Sussex in 1981.
Mass-Observation aimed to record everyday life in Britain through a panel of around 500 untrained volunteer observers who either maintained diaries, or replied to open-ended questionnaires on a regular basis. They also paid investigators to record people's conversation and behaviour at work, on the street and at various public occasions including public meetings, and sporting and religious events.
The early prime movers behind Mass Observation were anthropologist Tom Harrisson, poet Charles Madge and the film-maker Humphrey Jennings. Other collaborators in this work include: William Coldstream and Graham Bell (both painters), Julian Trevelyan (collagist), and AIDS