Includes correspondence, memoranda, proposals, outlines and reports relating to research projects sponsored by the Institute. Some material pre-dates the establishment of the Institute, having begun under the auspices of the Graduate Faculty Research Center.

The bulk of the material originates from the mid-1940s to the early 1950s. Many of these projects were done at the request of U.S. wartime offices, including: Former Jewish Communal Property in Germany; Germany's Position in European Postwar Reconstruction; the Propaganda Research Center; the Social and Economic Controls in Germany and Russia project; and the Research Project on Totalitarian Communication.

Postwar studies include: "Attitudes toward Industrial Work"; Vera Brenson’s education studies; Frederik Haussmann’s industrial education studies; the Image of the American in Foreign Literature project; the Readability of the European Wireless Files study; and materials from the Study Center in Community Participation (SCCP).

The largest cache of materials relate to the Leisure-Time Project and Alexander Ringer’s thesis, Musical Attitudes of Metropolitan College Students. Ringer’s study drew upon a series of questionnaires issued to CCNY students regarding their musical taste and listening habits. His methodology influenced his advisor, Hans Staudinger, who incorporated these methods and conceptual frameworks into the large-scale Leisure-time project.

The Leisure-time project was a major research project involving many of the IWA faculty. Running from 1948 until the 1950s, the study attempted to analyze the role of leisure time activity in industrial labor through a series of comprehensive surveys and questionnaires. Individual studies under this project include research on Work and Job by Hilda Weiss; Home and Family and Friends by Phyllis Poses; Group Cohesion; Values; and Education. This subgrouping contains interview and questionnaire materials; time record forms and analyses; proposals, progress reports, and drafts of various area studies and sections.

Another major cache of materials are the Lewis Lorwin files. Lorwin acted as chief consultant to the Research Division (successor to the IWA, circa 1955). Included herein is correspondence, commentary, and drafts related to various faculty and non-faculty research projects, as well as material relating to several projects found elsewhere in the collection, including the Leisure-time study; research on labor and industry; and the Religion in Germany project.

Of consideration for researchers is the nature of research at IWA. Projects were often completed collaboratively, with many different researchers participating in a semi-autonomous manner. Many of the larger research projects included smaller, more focused studies and papers. Additionally, many projects grew from a single faculty member's research to include many other researchers, while others began collectively, with discrete study areas assigned to individuals. As a result, many of the seemingly discrete studies and projects here share personnel, concepts, and research materials.

The material in this series is arranged alphabetically by researcher (when a single researcher and writer could be determined) and research project title (when the research project encompassed multiple studies or was conducted by a larger team of researchers).

One folder in the Leisure-Time project subseries is restricted because it contains the names of students who participated in a survey.