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Title:
Charles Booth Online Archive, 1799-1967

Subject Categories:
General - Employment and labour
Population history - History
Housing
Population studies - Population, vital statistics and censuses
Social indicators and quality of life - Society and culture

Depositor(s):
Booth, C.

Principal Investigator(s):
Booth, C.

Abstract:
The Charles Booth Online Archive is a searchable resource giving access to archive material from the Booth collections of the British Library of Political and Economic Science (the library of the London School of Economics and Political Science) and the University of London Library.

Charles Booth's work is a classic in several fields of social science, including sociology, urban studies, public administration, policy research, social surveys, demography and geography. His methodology combined gathering quantitative data alongside qualitative descriptions of the lives of Londoners in various districts, sometimes described house by house. He made innovative use of mapping for presenting and analysing data, and co-ordinating research efforts of his team. A second interest throughout Booth's research was the distribution of labour in London, including types of work, its stability and wages. This was the first such comprehensive labour survey to be linked, with meticulous detail, to the conditions that cause and maintain poverty in various regions of the city. Booth's work had lasting influence demonstrating the importance of social surveys for governance, demographics, and sociology.

The archives of the British Library of Political and Economic Science contain the original records from Booth's survey into life and labour in London, dating from 1886-1903. The archives of the University of London Library contain Booth family papers from 1799 to 1967.

The resource web site contains a detailed online catalogue of materials relating to Booth's survey. The catalogue is linked to digitised images of 31 of the survey notebooks and to an interactive digitised image of 12 'poverty' maps of London produced by the survey. The 450 original survey notebooks and maps are housed in the library archives at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In addition, the site offers an online catalogue of Booth family papers and digitised images of seven editions of the Booth family magazine.

Coverage:
Time Period Covered: 1799-1967
Dates of Fieldwork: 1886-1903
Country: England
Geography: London; Greater London
Spatial Units: No spatial unit
Observation Units: Individuals; Families/households; Text units (documents/chapters/words)
Kind of Data: Textual data; Numeric data; Survey notes; Interviews; Diaries; Family papers

Universe Sampled:
Location of Units of Observation:Subnational
Population:Inhabitants of London and Booth family papers

Methodology:
Time Dimensions: Repeated cross-sectional study
Sampling Procedures: Simple random sample; Purposive selection/case studies
Method of Data Collection: Face-to-face interview; Observation; Diaries
Weighting: Not applicable

Language(s) of Written Materials:
Study Description: English
Study Documentation: English

Access:
Access Conditions: Host archive conditions apply.
Availability: These data are available from a service other than ESDS, UK Data Archive - The British Library of Political and Economic Science and the Library, University of London. Contact ESDS Qualidata, UK Data Archive, in the first instance.
Contact: Help desk: qualidata@esds.ac.uk

Copyright:
Copyright London School of Economics and Political Science