The Survey Research Laboratory [SRL]

I first reported to Dr. Ferber at SRL, who appeared both soft-spoken and strict. He introduced me around SRL. Soon I had settled down in that small group, and was assigned some tasks in field operations including framing of questionnaires for the public surveys that the Lab undertook, and the training of interviewers. Most of the regular staff at SRL were Americans, but with a few foreign and national research assistants like myself. I recall with warmth Seymour Sudman, my adviser, a Sampling expert, Matt Hauck, the head of field operations, Peggy Greene, the secretary to Ferber, Judy Fiedler and Matti Frankel, wives of professors at the university and working in SRL. All of them taught me a lot about life in the States and SRL and the university town of Urbana-Champaign [Matti became a close friend]. The women, like so many others in America, came back to work after a break of years, while they raised their families; once the youngest was old enough to be left home on his or her own, they often continued their studies or took up a job. Mary Black, who came into SRL later, I think, was never close but a very interesting person..

A Serendipitous Class Paper
I had to take that one mandatory course every semester, so among those in the social sciences that were being offered that semester, I chose Research Methodology. It was taught by Seymour himself. What a fortunate choice it was! It laid a good foundation for my understanding of the subject - not just the topic, but the way Seymour handled it. The first class was a lecture on the principles of research methods, and then he asked us to choose our topics. We were just about eleven in that class, and when he noted that most of us, nine I think, were foreign students, he exclaimed, 'Good, you can each choose your topic from your own countries and that will make it more interesting'. He then said that he would not be lecturing the next or in later classes, except one on sampling designs, but he would give us weekly assignments and we were each to present at every succeeding class, our work orally and written [typed copies for all the class, and of course himself]. The class would critique each of the presentations so that they could be improved upon. He would also be available to us individually for any clarifications or comments in between. The end result would be a research proposal.

I wanted to take up the topic 'Factors influencing food habits in India' as I had always wondered why some groups and individuals were more open to trying new foods or varieties, but I was worried about getting the needed information for it. Well, I found that the university had a full set of the latest available census tables! [This was the 1961 census, as the 1971 one was still being tabulated]. So I could choose a design that called for sampling of the wheat and rice eating areas, the forward and backward states, and even districts within them, etc. My Indian Statistics Certificate course came in very handy in this part of the work. At the same time, I was most impressed with the types and range of resources the library had, the easy access we students had to the materials, the long hours it was open [well past midnight]! As the semester progressed, I really got into the topic and in the end had quite a respectable proposal.
The tale has a sequel. But of that later.