1. Challenging Behaviour:
Using behavioural science in ONS
Helen Moore
Office for National Statistics

2. The Office for National Statistics:
collects and publishes statistics about the economy, population and society at national, regional and local levels.
conducts the census in England and Wales every 10 years; in 2017 it carried out a Census Test to prepare for 2021.
conducts surveys of businesses, households and individuals: participation in the census and business surveys is compulsory; participation in social surveys is voluntary.
employs over 1,000 social survey interviewers, who work face-to-face, on the telephone and at ports and airports.
collects data for core social surveys like the Labour Force Survey, and wins competitive tenders to run externally-funded surveys, such as the National Survey for Wales.
The UK’s national statistical institute.

3. What is Behavioural Science?
Most of us believe that we are highly rational, making decisions on the basis of logic and evidence.
Psychological research shows that our actions and behaviour are influenced as much by automatic reactions as by our cognitive processing.
Behavioural science is about designing services and interventions to reflect the ways people really behave, rather than the ways theory or logic suggests they should rationally behave.

4. The Behavioural Insights Team
TEST
T = target
E = explore
S = solution
T = trial
The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) started life in the UK Cabinet Office as the world’s first government institution dedicated to the application of behavioural sciences. BIT draws on insights from behavioural science and in-depth qualitative research to gain a deeper understanding of how people behave in reality, rather than how policy makers and classical economists often assume they will behave. With this informed understanding of the customer experience, BIT designs and implements interventions to encourage or discourage certain behaviours and empirically tests the impact of those interventions, more often than not, with the use of Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs).
There are various models and mnemonics for remembering behavioural science principles - BIT has developed the EAST framework.
Easy – people tend to do what’s most straightforward, so make the behaviour you want to encourage the default
Attractive – people are most likely to do what’s attractive and what stands out. So emphasise the behaviour you want to encourage rather than the necessary details you need to cover
Social – people like to do what most other people are doing – it’s a shortcut to work out what’s probably a good idea!
Timely – the times at which you intervene matter. E.g. if you remind someone to make a optician’s appt at a weekend when they have time to do it, they’re more likely to do it there and then rather than forget the reminder.

5. Six ‘pilot’ projects 2017 Census Test Social Surveys Engagement
Behaviourally-informed invitation and reminder letters CENSUS TEST LETTERS
Behaviourally-informed calling cards, at no contact addresses CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
Social Surveys
A behaviourally informed advance letter for the Labour Force Survey LFS LETTER
An intervention to build resilience in telephone interviewers TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS
Engagement
Networking to build staff engagement in ONS headquarters STAFF ENGAGEMENT
Influencing stakeholders’ engagement with the Office for Statistics Regulation STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

6. 2017 Census Test Response to Census Test CENSUS TEST LETTERS
(with invitation and three reminders)
CENSUS TEST LETTERS
Invitation to participate online, but no field follow-up.
BIT created versions of invitation and reminder letters, drawing on principles of:
social norms
endowed progress
general costs.
The reminder letters:
used deadlines to invoke scarcity
conveyed monitoring of non-response

7. 2017 Census Test CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
Invitation to participate online, followed by field force follow-up
BIT created two calling cards: both made use of:
implementation intentions
prompts to help recipients plan when they would complete the census.
In addition, one included personalisation by the field worker.
Response to Census Test within 48 hours
(addresses which had not previously responded)

8. Social Survey LFS LETTER
BIT modified the LFS advance letter. The redesigned letter:
was significantly shorter than the existing letter
simplified content, stressing that respondents were chosen to represent their local area, and emphasising the expression of thanks.

9. Social Survey TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS
BIT worked with ONS’s Social Survey Division to improve the motivation and performance of telephone interviewers whose main task is to collect responses to the LFS.
The trial consisted of a series of eight messages based on psychology research that were designed to boost interviewers’ well-being and, in turn, productivity.
The intervention messages were tested against neutral, control messages.
BIT found no significant difference between the treatment and control groups in this trial.

10. Engagement STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT STAFF ENGAGEMENT
The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) wanted to encourage Statistical Heads of Profession to engage positively with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, through its presentation and articulation, and by changing its own way of working.
BIT produced:
a literature review showing how existing research could help;
a behavioural science toolkit; and
a workshop presented at the team’s away day.
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
Increasing social ties among employees should boost engagement. “Randomised Coffee Trials” are used to foster ties and boost morale.
BIT proposed that ONS trial a version of the Randomised Coffee Trial, matching individuals on employment and other characteristics.
The customer did not feel that the benefits outweighed the potential risks and costs, so did not proceed to run the trial.
“Randomised Coffee Trials”, whereby employees are randomly assigned to get a coffee with a different colleague every fortnight, are now used across many organisations to foster ties and boost employee morale.
Proposal was to test subsequent networking behaviour against random matching and those not participating at all

11. Randomised Control Trials?
RCT
CENSUS TEST LETTERS
CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS
LFS LETTER
No RCT
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

12. Useful Outcome? RCT No RCT CENSUS TEST LETTERS STAFF ENGAGEMENT
CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS
LFS LETTER
No RCT
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

13. Useful Outcome? RCT No RCT CENSUS TEST LETTERS STAFF ENGAGEMENT
CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS
LFS LETTER
No RCT
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

14. Useful Outcome? RCT No RCT CENSUS TEST LETTERS STAFF ENGAGEMENT
CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS
LFS LETTER
No RCT
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

15. Positive Effect? RCT No RCT CENSUS TEST LETTERS STAFF ENGAGEMENT
CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS
LFS LETTER
No RCT
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

16. Positive Effect? RCT No RCT CENSUS TEST LETTERS STAFF ENGAGEMENT
CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS
LFS LETTER
No RCT
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

17. Positive Effect? RCT No RCT CENSUS TEST LETTERS STAFF ENGAGEMENT
CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS
LFS LETTER
No RCT
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

18. External or Internal Behaviours?
CENSUS TEST LETTERS
CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
LFS LETTER
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Internal
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS

19. External Internal Useful Outcome? CENSUS TEST LETTERS STAFF ENGAGEMENT
CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
LFS LETTER
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Internal
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS

20. External Internal Useful Outcome? CENSUS TEST LETTERS STAFF ENGAGEMENT
CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
LFS LETTER
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Internal
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS

21. External Internal Useful Outcome? CENSUS TEST LETTERS STAFF ENGAGEMENT
CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
LFS LETTER
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Internal
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS

22. External Internal Positive Effect? CENSUS TEST LETTERS
CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
LFS LETTER
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Internal
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS

23. External Internal Positive Effect? CENSUS TEST LETTERS
CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
LFS LETTER
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Internal
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS

24. External Internal Positive Effect? CENSUS TEST LETTERS
CENSUS TEST CALLING CARDS
LFS LETTER
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Internal
STAFF ENGAGEMENT
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWERS

25. Lessons Learned Don’t assume knowledge
Involve customers in solution generation
Explore risk appetite
Behaviour change, not culture change
Easier to influence external behaviours
For internal:
Needs commitment
Difficult to communicate

26. Where successful, the gains can be large!