WORCESTER, Robert M(ilton) 1933-

(Robert Worcester)

PERSONAL: Born December 21, 1933; son of C. M. and Violet Ruth Worcester; married Joann Ransdell, 1958 (divorced); married Margaret Noel Smallbone, 1982; children: (first marriage) two sons. Education: University of Kansas, B.Sc., 1955. Hobbies and other interests: Choral music, gardening, castles, scuba diving, skiing.

ADDRESSES: Office—Market and Opinion Research International (MORI), 6 Mori House, 79-81 Borough Rd., London SE1 1FY, England. E-mail—worc@mori.com.

CAREER: McKinsey and Co. (management consultants), Washington, DC, consultant, 1962-65; Opinion Research Corp., Princeton, NJ, controller and assistant to the chair, 1965-68; Market and Opinion Research International (MORI) Ltd., London, England, managing director, 1969—, chair, 1973—; chair and managing director, MORI Social Research Institute and MORI Australia. City University, London, England, honorary visiting professor of journalism. UNESCO International Social Science Council, vice president, member of council, and member of scientific activities committee; Ditchley Foundation, member of program committee; British Museum (Natural History) Development Trust, member of board of trustees; broadcaster, public speaker, and consultant.

MEMBER: World Association for Public Opinion Research (past president), British Institute of Management, Royal Society of Arts (fellow), Media Society (member of executive committee), Worldwide Fund for Nature (member of council), Democrats Abroad (member of executive committee), Pilgrims Society (member of executive committee), Reform Club, Hurlingham Club.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) Consumer Market Research Handbook, McGraw (New York, NY), 1971, 2nd edition, with John Downham, Van Nostrand Reinhold (New York, NY), 1978, 3rd edition, with John Downham, Elsevier Science (New York, NY), 1986.

(Editor, with Martin Harrop) Political Communications: The General Election Campaign of 1979, Allen & Unwin (London, England), 1982.

(Editor) Political Opinion Polling: An International Review, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1983.

(With Lesley Watkins) Private Opinions, Public Polls, Thames & Hudson (London, England), 1986.

(With Eric Jacobs) We British: Britain under the MORIscope, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (London, England), 1990.

(As Robert Worcester, with Eric Jacobs) Typically British? The Prudential MORI Guide, Bloomsbury (London, England), 1991.

British Public Opinion: A Guide to the History and Methodology of Political Opinion Polling in Great Britain, Basil Blackwell (London, England), 1991.

(With Roger Mortimore) Explaining Labour's Landslide, Politico's Publishing (London, England), 1999.

(As Robert Worcester, with Roger Mortimore) Explaining Labour's Second Landslide, Politico's Publishing (London, England), 2001.

Also columnist for Times (London, England). Contributor to professional journals. Editor, International Journal of Public Opinion Research; member of editorial advisory board, Electoral Studies, World Opinion Update, Index to International Public Opinion, and European Business Journal.

SIDELIGHTS: Robert M. Worcester, expert on public opinion research in Britain, paired up with his colleague Roger Mortimore to write Explaining Labour's Second Landslide. Times Literary Supplement reviewer Peter Riddell described the book as being about "political history since 1997 as seen through MORI polls." Riddell commented on Worcester's "combative style" which he believes "can turn a difference of opinion into an argument, and a theoretical dispute into a personal feud." Riddell is able to overlook this, and comments that "Worcester and Mortimore provide a thoughtful and balanced account of public opinion . . . [the book shows] the strengths and limits of opinion polling, and show why the Tories never really had a chance." Social and Behavioral Sciences contributor M. Curtis stated, "this clearly written book will be useful for and amuse political pundits and psephologists." Curtis did note that it is "too specialized" for the general reader, however.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice, September, 2002, M. Curtis, review of Explaining Labour's Second Landslide, p. 179.

Journalism Quarterly, summer, 1992, review of British Public Opinion: A Guide to the History and Methodology of Political Opinion Polling in Great Britain, p. 510.

Social and Behavioral Sciences, September, 2002, M. Curtis, review of Explaining Labour's Second Landslide.

Times Literary Supplement, September 21, 1990; June 7, 2002, Peter Riddell, "The apathy landslide," pp. 11-12.

ONLINE

MORI Web site,http://www.mori.com/ (November 25, 2002), review of Explaining Labour's Second Landslide.*