Back in 2011 the Research Network responded very positively to a proposal from Lawrence Bailey to compile an Oral History record of the market research industry.

Oral history has been defined by the Centre for Urban History at Leicester University as “the recording, preservation and interpretation of historical information, based on the personal experiences and opinions of the speaker...It is an invaluable way of preserving the knowledge and understanding of older people."

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At the time, Lawrence wrote:“It would be desirable to create an audio resource that would be of interest to Market Researchers in years to come, via interviews with some of the luminaries of our industry. There are now ‘oral histories’ being collected for a variety of purposes, but they all follow the aim to provide vivid, first-hand accounts that go beyond the scope of written records."

What I have in mind is a series of one-to-one interviews in a style not unlike Desert Island Discs (without the music!), in which plenty of time would be devoted to reminiscence and narrative regarding the events and people that have shaped and developed Market Research… I would hope for interviews that bring out the character and interests of the interviewees as well as their knowledge about phases in the development of the industry, and the research activities that they themselves have been involved in.”

To date, Lawrence has conducted all of the interviews himself utilising to the full, his “psychologist-quallie” abilities. A total of 15 interviews have been carried out up to February 2015, including, along with Simon Patterson, a Video/Oral Interview with one of the founders of UK Qualitative Research, Bill Schlackman. (A video extract of this is available via a link to the MRS YouTube Channel).

There are currently 6 fully edited Oral History interviews available via the links to the MRS Channel following this Introduction Page, and it is hoped by the middle of the 2015 to have at least another 3 fully edited from their initial length, down to around 60 minutes. In addition, the Programme of Oral History Interviews is continuing in 2015 to add to those already carried out. 

>>You can listen to the interviews here 

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