Guide to the Oscar J. Kaplan Collection
© Copyright 2008 Special Collections & University Archives. All rights reserved.
2008-01-15
5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050
San Diego, CA, 92182-8050
URL: http://library.sdsu.edu/scua
Email: scref@rohan.sdsu.edu
Phone: 619-594-6791
Guide to the Oscar J. Kaplan Collection
1941/1992
Special Collections & University Archives
Overview of the Collection
Collection Title: Oscar J. Kaplan Collection
Dates: 1941-1992
Identification: MS-0288
Creator:
Kaplan, Oscar J.
Physical Description: 4.67 linear ft
Language of Materials:
English
Repository:
Special Collections & University Archives
5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050
San Diego, CA, 92182-8050
URL: http://library.sdsu.edu/scua
Email: scref@rohan.sdsu.edu
Phone: 619-594-6791
Biographical Information:
Born in 1915, Oscar Kaplan was known as "the father of geriatric psychology." Growing up in Los Angeles, he received his bachelor's
degree in psychology from UCLA and went on to get his master's degree in the same field, from the same institution. In 1940,
he got his PhD in psychology from the University of California Berkeley.
Kaplan started his career as a major figure in the study of public polling. While working for the
San Diego Union Tribune, he and his wife, Rose, developed various polls pertaining to life in San Diego. These topics included political, social
and economic surveys. His focus, however, was centered on mental and physical health issues.
In 1946, Kaplan became the first professor in San Diego State College's (SDSC) psychology department to have a PhD. His interest
in mass psychology lead him to develop courses related to public opinion measurement. In 1948, he founded the SDSC Center
for Survey Research, remaining as director until shortly before his death. While at SDSC, he created several public heath
surveys, asking students about their knowledge of dietary information, mental and sexual heath, X-rays, pregnancy, and prescription
drug usage.
Kaplan authored
Mental Disorders in Late Life, the first book about geriatric psychology. In 1946, the Surgeon General appointed him as a special consultant in gerontology
to the U.S. Public Health Service. In 1949, Kaplan developed a radio program geared toward elderly listeners. Titled
Your Life After Forty, the program gave advice about mental and physical hygiene for senior citizens. This program included polls about X-rays
and venereal diseases, new topics unrecognized by the elderly community.
Kaplan's exposure to the public caught the attention of the Truman administration. He urged the President to develop the White
House Conference on Aging, finally holding the conference in 1950. That same year, he became an appointed member of the Gerontological
Society, an organization devoted to the promotion of scientific study on aging.
In 1955, Kaplan founded what is now known as The American Society of Aging. Five years later, he became the founding editor
of
The Gerontologist, a professional journal in the field.
The political climate in the 1960's inspired Kaplan to develop polls about the country's opinion on political issues. These
included public opinions about Vietnam, civic affairs, public health surveys, and social security. In 1967, Kaplan organized
a survey asking his psychology students about the educational system in California. The subjects were questioned about the
value they saw in a college education, teacher compensation, and student rights.
In 1969, Kaplan received several grants from the U.S. Public Health Service. With the adequate funding, he was further able
to develop public polls about health and social issues. That same year, Kaplan created a student opinions survey, asking SDSC
students about American political and economic systems. Some questions inquired about the ethical implications of capitalism,
and how students felt about political processes in the United States.
Kaplan continued polling throughout the 1970's, developing several surveys about media issues. In 1974, Kaplan taught an upper
division class in public opinion measurement at San Diego State University (Psych-Journalism 122). The class focused on the
methods by which polling information is obtained, and how it is presented in the media (especially on television).
In the latter part of his career, Kaplan was recognized for several outstanding achievements. In 1976, Kaplan was given the
annual award by the Western Gerontological Society. In 1982, he was nominated for the Alumni faculty award at San Diego State
University, receiving a grant for his achievements. The following year, Kaplan was nominated to be an outstanding professor
in the Cal State University System.
Though Kaplan retired from SDSU in 1983, he continued polling well into the 1980's. He was the first pollster to inquire about
President Reagan's popularity in the decade, and further developed polls about political affairs.
After a struggle with cancer, Oscar Kaplan passed away on December 19th, 1994.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
Corporate Name:
San Diego State University -- Faculty -- Biography -- Sources
Family Name:
Kaplan, Oscar J. -- Archives
Genre/Form of Material:
Personal Papers
Publications
Title:
Aging
Older people -- Medical care
Topical Term:
Gerontology
Social surveys -- California -- San Diego County
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Use:
The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with
the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections
is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Requests for permission to publish must be
submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available
for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including
but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
Conditions Governing Access:
This collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation:
Identification of item, folder title, box number, Oscar J. Kaplan Collection, Special Collections and University Archives,
Library and Information Access, San Diego State University.
Scope and Contents
The
Oscar Kaplan Collection documents Kaplan's career as a pollster, psychologist, gerontologist, and member of SDSU's faculty. Also included is Kaplan's
work with various organizations including the Gerontological Society, American Society of Aging, the American Psychological
Association, and SDSU's Center for Survey Research. Documentation of Kaplan's works as a pollster includes health surveys
about tuberculosis and venereal diseases, health education research surveys, student health surveys and prescription drug
surveys. Highlights include correspondence for the radio series
Your Life After Forty, the White House Conference on Aging, studies and statistics about tuberculosis, evaluations of polling information, and
health education research. The collection dates from 1941-1996, with the majority of the materials dating from the late 1940s
to the early 1960's. It consists of articles, correspondence, surveys, survey data, research reports, statistics, newsletters,
Psychology Department bulletins, minutes, memos, and syllabi and other course files.
Detailed List of Contents
Box 1, Folder 1
Gerontology Radio Series: "Your Life After Forty"
1950
Box 1, Folder 2
2nd International Gerontological Congress
1951
Box 1, Folder 3
"Mailed Response to an Article on Geriatrics in the Reader's Digest," by Oscar J. Kaplan
ca. 1952
Box 1, Folder 4
Reader's Digest-Geriatrics
1949 - 50
Box 1, Folder 5
"Optimal Retirement Plans, Their Implication for the Industrial Physician," by A. G. Kammer
1951
Box 1, Folder 6
"Health Status & Health Needs Among Aged Beneficiaries of Old-Age & Survivors Insurance," by I.S. Falk
1951
Box 1, Folder 7
Medical Care for Aged
ca. 1949
Box 1, Folder 8
Age as a Factor in Physical Examination Frequency
1949
Box 1, Folder 9
Gerontological Society
1949 - 52
Box 1, Folder 10
Newsletters of the Gerontological Society
June 1954 - December 1956
Box 1, Folder 11
The American Geriatrics Society-correspondence
1950
Box 1, Folder 12
Research on Aging: Proceedings of a Conference at the University of California, Berkeley
August 7-10, 1950
Box 1, Folder 13
Health & Psychological Risks of Relocation of Elderly Residents of 4 Mobile Home Parks in the Santee, California area: State
Route 52 Project
July 1990
Box 1, Folder 14
"America's Centenarians: Reports of Interviews with Social Security Beneficiaries who have lived to 100"-volume III
December 1963
Box 1, Folder 15
"Social Indicators & the Aging," by Ontell, R. and Kaplan, O.J.
1972
Box 1, Folder 16
White House Conference on Aging-correspondence
1947-50
Box 1, Folder 18
Senior Citizens Survey
1964, February 1973
Box 1, Folder 19
Planning Committee - Master's in Gerontology
1979 - 80
Box 1, Folder 20
Office of Pacific Coast - Gerontology Research
1946 - 52
Box 1, Folder 21
Mayor's Committee on Aging
1974 - 77
Box 1, Folder 22
Miscellaneous Aging/Gerantology Programs
1949 - 73
Box 1, Folder 23
Health Project correspondence - Gerantology & Tuberculosis
1950 - 52
Box 1, Folder 24
Tuberculosis Information
1948 - 50
Box 1, Folder 25
Tuberculosis Mail Study
1951
Box 1, Folder 26
Tuberculosis Association Evaluation
1949 - 50
Box 1, Folder 27
County Tuberculosis & Health Association Radio Study
1951
Box 1, Folder 28
Resident Civilian Tuberculosis Statistics - S.D. County
1952
Box 1, Folder 32
VD Radio Audience Survey
1949
Box 1, Folder 33
VD Cancer, Chest X-Ray Surveys
1941 - 51
Box 1, Folder 34
"An Evaluation of a Public Health Venereal Disease Education Program," by Richard Warfield
1949
Box 1, Folder 37
Mass Chest X-Ray Statistics
1949 - 50
Box 1, Folder 39
"Effectiveness of Mailed Material in Inducing Older Persons to Obtain Chest X-Rays," by Oscar J. Kaplan
ca. 1952
Box 1, Folder 40
"Frequency & Effectiveness of Sources of Information used in the 1949 Hamtramck, Michigan Chest X-Ray Survey," by Norbert
Reinstein & Ralph Carr Fletcher
May 1950
Box 1, Folder 41
"Frequency & Effectiveness of Sources of Information used in the 1949 Highland Park, Michigan Chest X-Ray Survey," by Janeal
Benson Griffins
September 1950
Box 1, Folder 42
"Reasons for Non-Participation in the HIghland Park, Michigan X-Ray Survey," by Marion Henderson
November 1950
Box 1, Folder 43
Current Health Education Reseach
1949 - 50
Box 1, Folder 44
Health Education Studies
1947 - 49
Box 1, Folder 45
Health Education Program Evaluation
1946 - 52
Box 1, Folder 46
Health Education Evaluation
1948
Box 1, Folder 47
Evaluation of Health Education Activities by Opinion Poll Technique
1950 - 51
Box 1, Folder 48
Mass Health Education
1948 - 49
Box 1, Folder 49
Health Education Correspondence
1950
Box 1, Folder 50
World/Public Health Education
1948 - 49
Scope and Contents
pamphlets, flyers, articles, correspondence
Box 2, Folder 1
Health Sample Surveys
1948
Box 2, Folder 2
Health Survey #1 - Questionnaire forms
1949
Box 2, Folder 3
Health Survey #1 - Results
1949
Box 2, Folder 4
Questions for Health Survey #2
1948 - 50
Box 2, Folder 5
San Diego City Health Survey
1949 - 51
Box 2, Folder 6
San Diego State College Health Survey (Kellogg Study)
1948
Box 2, Folder 7
Evaluation of San Diego's Health
ca. 1952
Box 2, Folder 8
Health Systems Agency Survey
1978
Box 2, Folder 9
Payroll on Health Survey
1949
Box 2, Folder 10
Health Statistics
1948 - 49
Box 2, Folder 11
Health Study - Regular Physical Examinations
1949
Box 2, Folder 12
Physical Exam Week Campaign Materials
1950
Box 2, Folder 13
Regular Physical Exam Week
1949 - 50
Box 2, Folder 14
Periodic Exam Education
1949 - 50
Box 2, Folder 15
Imperial Valley Pap Smear Survey
January 1971
Box 2, Folder 16
Papanicolaou Smear Survey, San Diego County
1961, 1962, 1966
Box 2, Folder 17
Voluntary Organizations
1951
Box 2, Folder 18
Voluntary Health Study
1951 - 52
Box 2, Folder 19
"Attitudes Toward Voluntary Health Organizations," by Oscar Kaplan
1952
Box 2, Folder 20
"Public Opinion of San Diego Residents Regarding Health & Welfare Organizations," by Herbert Fredman
August 1951
Box 2, Folder 21
Community Welfare Council
1951, 1960
Box 2, Folder 22
Red Cross Survey
1951 - 52
Box 2, Folder 23
County Medical Society
1948 - 50
Box 2, Folder 24
San Diego County Drug Survey Results
1985
Box 2, Folder 25
Birth & Death Rates in Community Areas in San Diego in 1st Quarter
1949
Box 2, Folder 26
Deaths & Death Rates for 64 Selected Causes
1952
Box 2, Folder 27
Classifications of Physicians & Surgeons by Community Area
ca. 1972
Box 2, Folder 28
Parent Discussion Group Survey
1954
Box 2, Folder 29
Family Service Association
1949
Box 2, Folder 30
Civilian Defense
1951 - 52
Box 2, Folder 31
San Diego Civic Problems Survey #1
1951
Box 2, Folder 32
Follow-Up: San Diego Civic Problems #1
1951 - 52
Box 2, Folder 33
San Diego Civic Affairs Survey #3
1951 - 52
Box 2, Folder 34
San Diego Civic Affairs Survey #5
November 1959
Box 2, Folder 35
Civic Affairs Survey #10
1964 - 65
Box 2, Folder 36
San Diego Civic Affairs Survey
1959, 1960
Box 2, Folder 37
San Diego Civic Problems Survey
November - December 1957
Box 2, Folder 38
San Diego Civic Problems Surveys
November 1957
Box 2, Folder 39
A Survey of Citizen Attitudes in San Diego
ca. 1970
Box 2, Folder 40
County Attitude Survey
July 1971
Box 2, Folder 41
Balboa Park Parking Study
February 1980
Box 2, Folder 42
San Diego Higher Education Survey
June 1976
Box 2, Folder 43
Public Opinion on Vietnam War
1965 - 66
Box 2, Folder 44
Intergroup Relations in San Diego: a report to the City Council & the Board of Education of the City of San Diego
1946
Box 2, Folder 45
San Diego County Real Estate Investment Groups, by Hippaka, W.H., and Kaplan, O.J.
1962
Box 2, Folder 46
"San Ysidro Economic Potential"
December 1968
Box 2, Folder 47
"Public Opinion & Fluoridation," by Oscar J. Kaplan
ca. 1952
Box 2, Folder 48
Save Your Water Project
ca. 1952
Box 2, Folder 49
Chula Vista Shopping Center Surveys
1968
Box 2, Folder 50
Coronado Shopping & Civic Affairs Survey
January 1972
Box 2, Folder 51
Senior Opinion Survey
Spring 1959
Box 2, Folder 52
Restaurant Surveys
January 1977
Box 2, Folder 53
Belmont Park Survey
May 1972
Box 2, Folder 54
Highway Safety Survey
ca. 1970
Box 2, Folder 55
San Diego Political Opinions - correspondence
1963
Box 2, Folder 56
Campus Studies Institute, SDSC - Student Opinion Survey
1969
Box 2, Folder 57
San Diego's Population Statistics
1920 - 50
Box 2, Folder 58
San Diego Transportation Survey
December 1975
Box 2, Folder 59
Community Crime Survey
May 1974
Box 2, Folder 60
Metropolitan San Diego Housing Report
1952 - 53, 1957
Box 3, Folder 1
Second Supervisorial District Survey
August 1972
Box 3, Folder 2
Community Needs Survey
1949
Box 3, Folder 3
San Diego Bank and Savings & Loan Survey
November 1962
Box 3, Folder 4
Evaluation of the San Diego Plan for Racial Integration
1977 - 78
Box 3, Folder 5
Brown for Supervisor
Fall 1972
Box 3, Folder 6
Progress Report - RG 1552
1949, 1950
Box 3, Folder 7
US Public Health Service #RG 1552
1949 - 53
Box 3, Folder 8
RG 1552 - Progress Reports, Budget, Plans
1949 - 52
Box 3, Folder 10
Money Due from US Public Health Service
1950
Box 3, Folder 11
US Public Health Service Budget
1948 - 51
Box 3, Folder 12
US Public Health Service - miscellaneous
1949 - 52
Box 3, Folder 14
Berkeley Training Institute
August 20, 1959
Box 3, Folder 15
Vocational & Liberal Education
1947
Box 3, Folder 16
Postage Meter Slogans
ca. 1949
Box 3, Folder 19
Newsletter Correspondence
1951 - 53
Box 3, Folder 20
San Diego Civic Construction Project Survey
1958 - 59
Box 3, Folder 21
Placement of Unemployed Middle-Aged Workers in San Diego, California
November 1968
Box 3, Folder 22
Department of Psychology Faculty Promotion
1950 - 59
Box 3, Folder 23
Psychology Department Bulletins, Minutes, Memos
1963
Box 3, Folder 24
Psychology S-180
Summer 1974
Box 3, Folder 25
Psychology S-180
Summer Session, 1972
Box 3, Folder 26
Psychology - Jour 122 Class Survey
Fall 1967
Box 3, Folder 27
General Psychology Committee, Report
1949 - 50
Box 3, Folder 28
Handbook for American Psychological Association Division Officers
1952
Box 3, Folder 29
American Psychological Association - Division on Maturity and Old Age
1948 - 52
Box 3, Folder 30
American Psychological Association (APA) - newsletters - correspondence
July 1952 - February 1953, 1992
Box 3, Folder 31
Horn American Psychological Association Symposium Talk
1950
Box 3, Folder 32
"Behaviorism," by John B. Watson, lectures I-XII
n.d.
Box 3, Folder 33
Aztec Readers Survey
1974
Box 3, Folder 35
Public Relations Survey
May 1951
Box 3, Folder 36
Discussion of organizational problems in methodology: associations, publication, research support
n.d.
Box 3, Folder 38
State Proposition 1A Survey
September - October 1962
Box 3, Folder 39
"Report of the Activities of the Phillips-Ramsey Company"
1951
Box 3, Folder 40
Principles of Communication
ca. 1950
Box 3, Folder 41
Eleven Principles of Effective Communication
1951
Box 3, Folder 42
Communication Research
n.d.
Box 3, Folder 43
Post Card Poll on Duration of War
1943
Box 3, Folder 44
Idaho Social Hygiene
1942 - 43
Box 3, Folder 45
South California 1st National Bank Employee Morale Materials
1969
Box 3, Folder 46
The Dolls Survey - Health
1949
Box 3, Folder 47
Correspondence, re. Polling Organizations
1951
Box 3, Folder 49
Educational Records Bureau Bulletins
1965 - 66
Box 3, Folder 52
Television Surveys
1949 - 52
Box 3, Folder 53
California Contemporary Problems TV Course
1974
Box 3, Folder 54
Miscellaneous correspondence
1950 - 60
