Randomised Controlled Trial: Home Visits to Promote Sure Start.

Experimental research in political science suggests that doorstep canvassing is more effective than postal appeals in encouraging people to vote (Green 2010 for a review; John and Brannan 2008; Karp et al 2007; Pattie and Johnston 2003). Less is known about whether mobilisation methods can increase engagement with public services, although Cotterill et al. (2009) found that doorstep canvassing encouraged people to use a kerbside recycling service. This paper reports on a randomised controlled trial which compared the effect of two different methods of mobilisation – canvassing and leaflets – in encouraging families who were not already engaged to attend Sure Start centres. The research was undertaken in partnership with Manchester City Council, with 2502 randomly selected families who had given birth to a child in the previous eighteen months. Families were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a third received a visit from a Sure Start outreach worker providing information and encouragement; a third received a leaflet about Sure Start; and a third were in a control group that received the usual service. In this paper we review the literature on mobilisation methods, describe the research design and methods and present some early results.