The Survey Research Center (SRC) is an Organized Research Unit of the University of California, Berkeley, operating under the jurisdiction of the Vice Chancellor for Research. It was established in 1958 as the principal unit for survey and related social science research methods on the Berkeley campus. The Center has an international reputation for collecting, processing, and disseminating survey, administrative, and ethnographic information.

SRC researchers are leaders in developing innovative empirical research methods for asking people about their attitudes and behaviors, observing their relationships and activities, and collecting information about their experiences. SRC serves as a center for UC Berkeley social scientists who develop and use these methods.

SRC provides a full range of technical services for social research conducted by UC faculty members, for faculty at other institutions, for governmental agencies, and for other groups seeking research assistance. The Center also provides scholarly support services for Berkeley faculty members with offices at SRC, and it offers graduate and undergraduate students at Berkeley opportunities for first-hand research experience as research assistants and survey researchers.

SRC Divisions

Four units within the Survey Research Center provide specialized research services. The Survey Services Facility (SSF) provides in-person, telephone, and self-administered survey services of the highest quality for the campus community and beyond. University of California Data Archive & Technical Assistance (UC DATA) provides access to data collected from around the world and technical assistance in producing new datasets from administrative and other data sources. The Center for Urban Ethnography (CUE) sponsors research and training using systematic participant-observation methods. The California Census Research Data Center (CCRDC), in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau, provides researchers with access to non-public Census data under conditions that facilitate innovative research while safeguarding confidentiality.

The professional staff, associated faculty, and graduate and undergraduate students of the Survey Research Center comprise an intellectual community devoted to using and improving empirical social science methods.

The Center is located at 2538 Channing Way in Berkeley. It occupies part of the former private and very prestigious Anna Head School for Girls facility, which was built in 1892 by architect Soule Edgar Fisher. With its classic Queen Anne style, it was the first brown shingle building built in Berkeley. The Anna Head buildings are currently listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and the Berkeley Architectural Society has sought landmark status for the old Anna Head campus. Please note the photograph above and see other historical photographs under History of the Anna Head Building (Home to SRC).