Our Research
This project aims to find out the most effective means to encourage active citizenship. Citizen activities matter because engagement assists public policy outcomes, such as safer communities and more efficient public services. But little is known about the link between policy interventions, civic engagement and policy outcomes. Our project aims to throw more knowledge about such links and to indicate the concrete things that policy-makers can do to sustain the activities of citizens as users and co-producers of services. Our project uses innovative experimental methods as well as survey re-analysis to understand the civic-outcome link.
We are also doing some additional experiments from August 2009 and these include one at Southampton: Increasing the number of organ donors: a cluster randomised controlled trial of 'Nudge' and 'Think' strategies' and two in Manchester: 'A randomised controlled trial on pledging' and 'An experiment on food waste recycling'. Please see the Project Summaries section for more details of these.
To view an overall presentation by the team outlining their research and results so far please go to the following link:-
- An experiment to examine the effect of the Internet on collective action (in partnership with Oxford Internet Institute)
- Design Experiment – University of Southampton and Hampshire County Council
- On line deliberation experiment
Link to PSA Conference 2010 Paper 'Do Citizens 'deliberate' in on-line discussion forums? Preliminary findings from an internet experiment'
Link to ECPR Conference 2009 Paper: ' Measuring the 'deliberative quality' of an online experimental mini-public: methodology and early results'
Link to ECPR Conference 2009 Paper: 'Deliberation and internet engagement: initial findings from a randomised controlled trial evaluating the impact of facilitation internet forums'
Link to Policy Briefing - October 2009
Link to presentation for the NatCen/LSE Event on 23-4 April 2009
Link to PSA Conference 2010 Paper 'Who listens to grassroots? A field experiment on informational lobbying in the UK'
Link to paper presented at ECPR Joint Sessions April 2009
- Community engagement design experiment – with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
Link to PSA 2009 paper
Link to presentation for the NatCen/LSE Event on 23-4 April 2009
- Pledging Experiment February to March 2010
- Second RCT with Emerge - Experiment on Food Waste Recycling to take place in Autumn 2009
Link to PSA Conference 2010 Paper 'The Use of Feeback to Enhance Environmental Outcomes: A Randomized Contrlled Trial of a Food Waste Scheme
- Increasing Organ Donation Experiment (to take place at Southampton in Spring 2010
