Independent Studies of Modern Experience
Reality Reports are independent, think tank-style studies conducted by Real World Labs to explore how people experience, interpret, and navigate the world around them. Each report focuses on a specific theme of modern relevance, examined through direct engagement with participants. Reality Reports are:
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independent and agenda-driven
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rigorous qualitative inquiry
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designed for depth and nuance over scale
They are intended to inform thinking, challenge assumptions, and contribute meaningfully to public and professional discourse.
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Forthcoming Reality Reports
01
Public Attitudes to Enlightenment Values in the UK and US
An in-depth qualitative study exploring how key Enlightenment ideals such as reason, freedom of thought and expression, individual autonomy, secularism and progress are understood and perceived in contemporary life.
Enlightenment ideals were central to the development of modern Western society. This study examines how these principles continue to shape attitudes, beliefs, and everyday decision-making in the UK and US.
Fieldwork in progress.
02
Living with Artificial Intelligence
As AI moves from novelty to everyday presence, this study explores how people are encountering AI in practice, how they understand it, use it, and respond to it emotionally as it becomes part of ordinary life.
It will explore how behaviours and expectations are shifting, alongside how people perceive risk and opportunity, make sense of rapid change, and form beliefs about the role AI should play in society.
In development.
Additional reports and working papers will be published as research programmes progress.