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The Detroit Area Study (DAS), conducted from 1951 to 2004, was a graduate training program in survey methods at the University of Michigan. Students conducted an annual survey in the Detroit Metropolitan Area (Oakland, Wayne, and Macomb counties), with a different research focus each year. Common topics included community life in an urban environment, family, politics, and race relations. The records consist of proposals, questionnaires, and analyses of the surveys.

The Detroit Area Study (DAS) records document a decades long survey research project focused on the Detroit metropolitan area. The records include administrative files documenting the development, funding and management of the project, publicity materials, photographs, publications produced by DAS staff or by others using DAS generated data, questionnaires and sampling reports the records are organized into four series: Administrative Files, Proposals, Questionnaires, and Sampling Reports.

The Institute for Social Research (ISR), an interdisciplinary center for social science research, was created in 1949 when the Research Center for Group Dynamics (founded at Massachusetts Institute of Technology) joined the university's Survey Research Center. ISR houses the Center for Political Studies (CPS), Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), Population Studies Center (PSC), Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD), and the Survey Research Center (SRC). Records document the founding and development of ISR and its related centers and programs and include audiovisual materials, minutes, correspondence, topical files, reports, and proposals. Administrative records include governance committees and director's files. Records of the Program for Research on Black Americans (PRBA) consist of grant proposals, survey instruments, focus group transcriptions, correspondence, bulletins, and internal governance records created under the auspices of PRBA and its various projects. Records of the Research Center for Group Dynamics are primarily the papers of director Kurt Lewin, including manuscripts and talks. Survey Research Center records consist largely of proposal and project files, although they also include faculty oral histories. The records of the Population Studies Center consist of lectures from its founder, Dr. Ronald Freedman, while the Center for Political Studies contains one binder of material from the American National Election Survey conducted in 1980.

The Institute for Social Research (ISR) records are dated from 1936-2017 (scattered) and consist of 143.8 linear feet (in 146 boxes) and digital files (online). Materials in this record group include audiovisual material, committee files (which include minutes and agendas), correspondence, directors' files, oral histories, publications, reports, and topical files. These records document the founding and subsequent development of ISR as well as its centers and programs, particularly the Program for Research on Black Americans (PRBA) and the Survey Research Center (SRC). The records also provide an overview of ISR's administration and the evolution of social science survey research methodology.

There are gaps in the records, which can be addressed in part through the papers of Rensis Likert, Angus Campbell, Dorwin P. Cartwright, and Philip E. Converse—all of which are held at the Bentley Historical Library (BHL). When viewed in conjunction with other ISR-related personal papers in the Bentley Historical Library, a rich and detailed picture of the growth of ISR as a center and the social science research discipline emerges.

Publications of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. Includes annual reports, catalogs, manuals and newsletters. Contains the publications of the National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging, National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, and National Institute of Justice. Contains bulletins and syllabi from Summer Course in Quantitative Methods

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research Publications includes annual reports, catalogs, manuals and newsletters. The record group also includes publications of the National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging, National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, and National Institute of Justice. The Publications are divided into two series: Unit Publications and Sub-Unit Publications.

Research consortium based at University of Michigan that acquires, preserves and disseminates computerized social science research data. ICPSR records include administrative files, grant files and documentation of the institute's educational activities. The research data files are maintained and serviced by ICPSR.

The records of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research document the development, primary functions, and activities of the ICPSR. The records hold significance in documenting scientific cooperation among international research institutions. The records detail the history of technology, educational partnerships, computer-readable data sharing, and social science disciplines. The record group is divided into six series: Organization and Administration, Meetings, Individual Council Chairs' Papers, Resource Development and Services, Grants and Project Proposals, and Educational Activities.