Survey Research Center University of Michigan May 1950 (2)

A BRIEF STATEMENT OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SURVEY RESEARCH CENTER

1946 'to 1950

The Survey Research Center was created by act of the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan in July 19U6„ It began actual operation in October of that year as a research unit of the University,

From the beginning the Center's activity has been devoted almost exclusively to researcho The specific projects which it has undertaken can be roughly classified into four areas:

I» Studies of economic behavior^ The major projects in this area are the annual Surveys of Consumer Finances conducted by the Center for the Federal Reserve Board. Additional smaller studies in this area have been financed by the Federal Reserve Board, the Treasury Department, the Harvard School of Business Administration, the General Motors Corporation^ the Institute of Life Insurance, and by the Center itself through Foundation support and its own research reserve.

2• Studies of group organization and productivity. This program of research began in 1947 under a grant from the Office of Naval Research. It has since been extended on an increasing scale through contracts with private corporations,

3» Studies of political behavior. This program has been smaller in volume than the preceding two. Included here are a series of studies done under contract with different government agencies, a study financed from the Center's research reserve, and more recent projects supported by public and private agencies.

4* Studies of methods, While virtually every project the Center undertakes contributes to the improvement of survey metho• dology, several specific studies of methods have been carried through independently of contracted surveys. The most elaborate of these is a two-year study of reliability of report, supported by the Rocke• feller Foundation. Several other studies of sampling error, repor• ting error, and techniques of interviewing have been done, mainly 1

-2- supported through the Center's research reserve. j During the three-year period ending in June 1950, all of these four programs of research have increased in scope. Because of the conclusion of certain contracts in the Group Productivity pro• gram and the beginning of new projects in the Economic Program (Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Federal Housing Agency, Michigan Economic Development Couimisson) it is probable that the Center's total activity in the latter area will be larger than in the former during 1950-51. The program in the area of Political Behavior will also be somewhat more extensive during the coming year than it has been in the past as the result of contracts recently entered into. In general, however, it does not appear that the Center's total activity will differ greatly from the pattern which it has

followed during the past three years0.