Mass Observation - Impact

Impact

During the Second World War, Mass Observation research was occasionally influential in shaping British public policy. In 1939 Mass Observation publicly critiqued the Ministry of Information's posters such as the Keep Calm and Carry On poster, which led to their being replaced with more appropriate posters. In addition, their study of saving habits were used by John Maynard Keynes successfully to argue for tax policy changes. During the war, there were also a few cases of Mass Observation (MO) doing research on commission for government authorities trying to shape recruiting and war propaganda: Mary Adams, for example, employed MO on commission for the Ministry of Information.

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