Conrad Jameson Associates Limited

Conrad Jameson Associates Limited was a market research and development agency part owned by Dennis Stevenson.

A series of five seminars was held in March and April to discuss the value of behavioural studies to planners. The general premise was that understanding the behaviour of people and firms was essential for the planner when dealing with the development of urban and rural areas both in situations where he could influence that behaviour and those where he could only take account of it....

David Walton, of Freeman Fox and Associates, criticized many of the current approaches to transport planning in that they were based too much on existing behaviour and its assumed continuation, while at the same time they ignored the nmre subtle influences on decisions concerned with mode and distance, decisions which could be made frequently. He called for more emphasis in research on the relevance of sociological and participatory techniques, but regarded as more important the testing of new policies.

This recommendation led in directly to the call made by Conrad Jameson, of Conrad Jameson Associates, for"instrumental research". He said that too much social research was purely descriptive of existing behaviour and that this needed to be amplified by research which helped the planner to be an active policy formulator. This research would be akin to market research in that it would show the likely effects of untried policies as well as demonstrating how behaviour could be altered in certain directions. He criticized the planner for pretending to be a neutral in the urban situation and for failing to call for this sort of research.

Finally Trevor MacMurray, of McKinseys Ltd., discussed participation and pointed out that this meant not only people participating in the planning process but also planners participating in the urban process. To do this satisfactorily the planner needed an understanding of the behaviour that made up that process. Such understanding could first be obtained from most of the exercises that passed for participation at present.

The seminars taken together showed the need for planners not only to spend more time and effort on researching and studying existing patterns of behavio~r but also to accept that they are changing the pattern of the environment and hence that they need instrumental research to show them how behaviour would change as a result. If the planner is to maintain his activist role in improving things he should have the humility to find out how first.^[1]

Publications

Title: A social research inquiry into the specification of old age homes

Subtitle: preliminary findings.

Corporate Author: (Prepared for) Cheshire County Council (by) Conrad Jameson Associates Ltd

Publisher: Conrad Jameson Associates Ltd, London, 1972

Pagination: 42pp

Year of Publication: 1972

Accession Number: CPA-930813135

More interesting is perhaps this paper in the Clive Jenkins papers, Warwick University archives

MSS.79/6/CJ/1/9 Miscellaneous. Includes report on Labour Party membership by Conrad Jameson Associates (1968), draft and unreferenced submissions of evidence, statistics for Finance Panel report, letter to Political Education Panel from David Owen, MP, regarding interim report. 1968 December - 1980 June

Curran, J. 1968　Marketing Study of Financial Times Readership: Final Report. London: Conrad Jameson Associates.[2]

Preliminary research report (mimeo), Conrad Jameson Associates; Economist Intelligence Unit (1966). The National Newspaper Industry: A Survey, EIU , London.[3]

Notes

1. ^ Tony Shoults, 'The Importance for Planners of Behaviour' South East Branch Seminar, Spring 1973, Regional Studies. Vol. 7, pp. 237-238. Pergamon Press 1973. Printed in Great Britain.