Marginal notes from the original 1968/69 questionnaires

At the time of the Townsend 1968-69 Poverty in the UK survey, the questionnaires used were paper-based and came in the form of a survey booklet.  Field interviewers, trained in an ad hoc fashion, would code the interviewee's answers into the various boxes by each question and could make notes amplifying, justifying and explaining their coding decisions. They could also write further notes in the margins, providing additional information.

Below you can scroll through some examples. They provide insights into the attitudes and approach of the interviewer, the feelings and opinions of the interviewee and additional, often very revealing, information on the conditions and circumstances of the household and area. They add to our understanding of life in the late 1960s as well as the research methods used.

For each example, the unique survey questionnaire number is given and by clicking on that number you can go to the pdf of the questionnaire itself. These examples are just a few of the many notes that can be found on the Townsend questionnaires.  The 1968/69 survey questionnaires provides a full archive of all the existing questionnaire booklets which is searchable by the extent of marginal notes, region and interviewer.

Marginal notes evaluating the informant’s claims and character

In some of the notes, the interviewer records their judgments, sometimes very sceptical, as to the reliability of the information they were being given – or not given.

From 6-36-0409

From 1-01-1222

The informant lived with her husband, who was ‘in bed with heart trouble’, and daughter, who had had ‘a series of major operations’ and was ‘something of a wreck’. The interviewee comments:

"One of those interviews where, I fear, the slant of our questioning may have crystallized the informant’s despair. A household declining into ill-health and isolation. The house inconvenient with a basement flat for the daughter, & the kitchen below, & lacking amenities. Front room filled with antiques, relics of the grand houses the couple had been servants at. Daughter has a bed-sit..."

Many of the notes include additional information about the conditions of the household explaining the coding decisions made. The detail provides insights into just how poor some of these living conditions were and the struggles being faced.

This interview has extensive notes throughout and comments at the end on ‘cystalizing’ the respondent’s ‘despair’ (see above).

From 5-25-2222

A note clarifying the kitchen arrangements.

Marginal notes providing additional information

From 3-15-1182

Further information

• Amplifications of the codes including calculations on income, benefits etc.;
• Justifications of coding decisions or lack of coding;
• Explanations related to the substantive focus and coding;
• Evaluations of informants’ characters or their claims discussing the individual personality or household characteristics, emotions and material resources;
• Ethical issues raising issues about how far to pursue an interviewee;
• Debriefing with comment to the core research team;
• Standpoint where interviewers commented on the wider political or local context.

This page was authored by Joanna Mack, University of Bristol and The Open University.