How the Archive of Market and Social Research can help with A Level History

Phyllis Macfarlane, Chair of Contents at the Archive of Market and Social Research

In this blog I’ll introduce the Archive of Market and Social Research (AMSR), a new online research resource that is free and easy to use! I’ll explain how the resource could be particularly useful to OCR A Level History students.

What is the AMSR?

The AMSR is a small archive based on the market and social research industry. We are a new archive, emerging from a process of collaboration in the industry to preserve the work of the past 70+ years. It has been developed entirely by volunteers, and it’s digital, free to access and easy to use. The content reflects and measures the attitudes, feelings, experience and behaviour of the British public after World War 2, and is used by a growing number of modern British History academics and A Level students.

How can it help with NEA and relevant A Level units?

The archive is particularly suitable for use by A Level students working on the A Level History module Y113: Britain 1930 – 1997. We have a wide range of material on post war issues which can address questions such as:

• Assess the reasons for the sexual revolution in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s. 
• How effectively did British governments deal with issues of race relations and immigration in the 1970s? 
• Assess the reasons why Britain’s membership of the EEC/EU was such a controversial political issue during the period from 1979 to 1997. 
• Review the 1970 and 1974 general elections, opinion polling and public attitudes to Heath, Wilson and Thorpe 
• Assess the reasons for Margaret Thatcher’s downfall in 1990. 

We have contemporary opinion polls, surveys on immigration and of immigrants, attitudes to social change such as divorce, abortion, capital and corporal punishment, the financial equality act, attitudes to Mrs Thatcher throughout her tenure as Prime Minister... and lots more. It’s a mine of contemporary material suitable for A Level students.

Who has used the archive?

One of the things that we found in our pilot with the history department of the Notting Hill and Ealing High School was that all their Modern British History A Level students found the archive useful – even if they didn’t actually go on to use it for their NEA. It helped them see that archives were not as ‘scary’ as they thought – and they were therefore encouraged to go in to look at other archives such as the Churchill and National Archives. Since being able to demonstrate an ability to use archive resources is good for university entrance these days, we felt that we had performed a useful service! 

It’s also worth noting that the first year of the pilot was during lockdown – so students only had an email from their teacher and a simple guide to work with. Nevertheless, they all found it easy to use and interesting and a third of them used the archive extensively in their NEAs. In the second year over a half used the archive in theirs. 

“The archive really is a treasure trove!”
Louise Hunter, Head of History and Politics, Notting Hill and Ealing High School.

“This is an archive that unlocks lots of different topics for modern British historians.”
Professor Claire Langhamer, Director of the Institute of Historical Research.

What other resources are available?

We also produce books based on the archive. Our most recent book is called Researching the Public: Post War Policy, Politics and Polling. 

It includes articles from experts Professor Sir John Curtice (Referendums: how do voters decide?) and Peter Kellner (Researching voters: how parties use polls to develop strategy). The book also covers opinion polls, healthcare policy, inflation, public perceptions of leaders and many other topics to provide inspiration for NEA titles and coursework, and demonstrates how they can use the AMSR archive in their research.

Stay connected

Share your thoughts in the comments below. If you have any questions, you can email us at history@ocr.org.uk call us on 01223 553998 or message us on X (formerly Twitter) @OCR_History. You can also sign up to receive subject updates to keep up-to-date with the latest news, updates and resources.

About the author

Phyllis Macfarlane is Chair of Contents at the AMSR. Having been a professional market researcher and statistician all her life, and ex-Chairman and Fellow of the Market Research Society, she is thrilled to find that the work of her industry can be used in A Level History and Politics, and frequently dips into the archive to write articles on subjects such as: the effect of inflation on women in the 1970’s; attitudes to immigration in the 1970s; comparing the 1974 and potential 2024 general elections; How attitudes to Valentine’s Day have changed..... She is always amazed at what she can find there. Please contact her directly on phyllis.macfarlane@amsr.org.uk with specific queries.