Political Research and Experiments | Sister District

Research Studies and Experiments

Political Research

All research studies and experiments are carried out by the Sister District Action Network (SDAN), the 501(c)(4) non-profit affiliate of Sister District. Under the direction of Dr. Gaby Goldstein and Dr. Mallory Roman, the SDAN team specializes in political research and civic engagement, focusing on things like voter behavior, volunteer engagement, outreach methods, and messaging. We are excited and honored to work alongside researchers at such well respected institutions as the Voter Participation Center, the Mississippi NAACP, Virginia Tech University, and the University of Michigan.

Trends

In addition to evaluating the efficacy of different engagement tactics and communication methods, the SDAN team also looks into trends within:

Voter Behavior

- - Voter Registration, Voter Turnout, Voter Demographics

Voter, Volunteer, Fundraising Messaging

- - Get Out The Vote (GOTV) Messaging, Persuasion Messaging, Contact Timeline, “Friendraising”

Volunteer & Field Activities Research

- - Postcarding, Phonbanking, Textbanking/ Text Messaging, Political Canvassing

Additional information about our research is available in our Whitepapers.

SDAN Interviews and Events

Interested in hearing more from our SDAN team or learning more about grassroots organizing? Check out Sister District’s Instagram during the election cycle!

Dr. Mallory Roman breaks down the latest political trends and research updates on “Mondays with Mallory.”

Catch “State Bridges Live,” where SDAN Program Associate Ore Obiwumi connects Sister District partners and grassroots groups throughout the country to discuss what they are seeing on the ground while working in their local communities.

The Press Library includes features in national media outlets, Op-Eds, podcasts, statements, and more.

Voter Registration and Engagement Research

Sister District volunteers in California write postcards to voters

Research and Experiments

Downstream analysis of primary postcard studies: Does getting GOTV postcards before the primary increase general election voter turnout?

This analysis explores the general election voting behavior of voters who SDAN sent GOTV postcards to ahead of the 2020 primaries, to determine if the increase in voter turnout we observed in those studies traveled downstream to increase turnout among those voters in the November 2020 general election.

May 27, 2021 No Comments

Research and Experiments

The skill of the chase 2: Do chaser postcards help to amplify the utility of an earlier voter contact?

Abstract: This study tested the efficacy of postcards that follow up on a successful voter contact made by a campaign in increasing voter turnout. Six

May 14, 2021 No Comments

Research and Experiments

Blue waves: Do 2 waves of primary GOTV postcards increase voter turnout?

This study sought to determine if voter turnout among low-to-mid turnout propensity, high support voters could be improved by sending a GOTV/voter education postcard to voters ahead of each of the 2020 state and presidential primaries in Florida, Georgia, and Minnesota.

February 11, 2021 No Comments

Research and Experiments

A culture of voting: Does early, repeated voter contact help boost odd year voter turnout?

This study sought to determine if sending 3 waves of handwritten postcards to high support, mid-low turnout propensity voters could increase voter turnout for the 2019 Virginia, Louisiana, and Mississippi primary and general elections.

January 21, 2021 No Comments

Research and Experiments

The skill of the chase: Do chaser postcards help to amplify the utility of an earlier voter contact?

This pilot study tested whether sending a handwritten postcard to a voter, to follow up on a successful voter contact made by a campaign earlier that year, could increase voter turnout.

January 4, 2021 No Comments

Crowds stand in line to vote in Georgia in 2020

Research and Experiments

Crowding at the ballot box: Voter responses to crowdedness and voting methods during the age of COVID-19

Sister District Action Network (SDAN) teamed up with Dr. Josh Ackerman and PhD candidate Iris Wang from the University of Michigan to conduct a randomized controlled trial via survey in July 2020 in order to investigate the effect of Covid-19 on voter thoughts and attitudes.

October 28, 2020 No Comments

Volunteer Research

Sister District Survey Results: Social Investment in Teams = Increased Volunteer Participation

In January 2019, we surveyed our members to learn more about what motivates them to be part of our community, and what factors are associated with higher levels of participation in SDP activities.

June 7, 2019

Volunteer Research

Call (or Text) Your Girlfriend — Personal Contact Works Better Than Just Email To Recruit and Confirm Volunteers to Attend Team Events

In 2018, we ran two studies in partnership with Dr. Katherine Haenschen at Virginia Tech to explore the best ways to get volunteers to RSVP and attend team events. This post synthesizes the main findings of those studies. For specifics about each study, you can find recruitment study results here and confirmation study results here.

May 7, 2019

Volunteer Resources

Sister District volunteers with Washington candidate Emily Randall

GOTV

GOTV With Our Latest Research

Get Out More Votes, More Effectively The temperature is dropping, the leaves are changing, and pumpkins are popping up on front porches all over the

October 23, 2019

Volunteer Resources

Correlation vs. Causation: Tips for Reading Political Research Studies

You’ve probably heard the phrase “correlation does not equal causation” — but what does it mean? Here are some tips for reading Political Research Studies.

September 11, 2019

Volunteer Resources

Sister District Alumni — Building the Progressive Policy Pipeline: Legislation Introduced (Not Passed)

This article focuses on proposed bills that failed to pass. Why bother? See the end of the article for more — but to eat dessert first: sometimes, as Morrissey says, “these things take time.” Introducing bills creates opportunities to respond to feedback, tweak, and reintroduce next session.

March 13, 2019

Candidate Maria Collet (left) canvassing with Sister District DC volunteers

GOTV

Get Out The Vote: Messaging For The Win

There are lots of field tactics to turn out voters, but any industry insider will tell you that a method is only as good as your message. In this post we review current recommendations for GOTV messaging, and research-based recommendations for messaging in general.

October 11, 2018

Secondary Research Reports

Field Activities Research

Field Research Overview

Bottom line: Traditionally, methods using live conversation (e.g., canvassing and phonebanking) are more effective than other methods of voter outreach.

Canvassing

Bottom line: Canvassing has traditionally been known as the most effective form of voter contact because of the opportunity for face-to-face, two-way communication.

Phonebanking

Bottom line: If canvassing is not an option, phonebanking has traditionally been the next best thing.

Textbanking

Bottom line: The effectiveness of textbanking needs more research. There’s evidence that text messaging has small effects on voter turnout and voter registration.

Postcarding

Bottom line: The effectiveness of handwritten communications like postcarding and letter writing needs more research. There’s evidence that both have small effects on voter turnout and that postcarding has a small effect on voter registration.

Volunteer Engagement

Bottom Line: Direct contact with volunteers results in more participation.

Relational Organizing

Bottom line: Relational organizing is the most impactful tactic that individuals can use to influence elections.

Social Pressure

Bottom line: Social pressure is highly effective and social pressure mail has been shown to be more effective than regular direct mail.

Sister District Whitepapers

SDAN’s white papers are meant to provide enough detail about our studies to allow others to completely understand our findings and replicate our methods. These white papers provide more rationale behind the studies, as well as more detail about methods and analyses employed, compared to our blogs and short reports. They are perfect for fellow scientists and number crunchers, as well as anyone who is curious about learning more about what went into a particular study. White papers are published as they are available.

An American Melting Pot? Describing the constituencies of state legislative Democrats and Republicans in the US

Gaby Goldstein, JD, PhD
Mallory Roman, PhD

Call (or text) your girlfriend: Personal contact increases volunteer RSVP and attendance rates

Gaby Goldstein, JD, PhD
Mallory Roman, PhD

Location, Location, Location: Does postcard postmark location matter for voter turnout?

Gaby Goldstein, JD, PhD
Mallory Roman, PhD

Call (or text) your girlfriend: Personal contact to confirm intention to attend increases volunteer attendance rates

Gaby Goldstein, JD, PhD
Mallory Roman, PhD

Completed Research

Study	Election/ Year Conducted	Date Reported (Blog)	Type of Study	Area of Study (e.g. VR)	Partner	Short Report link	Blog link
Voter Registration prime and chase with VPC	2018	8/16/2018	RCT	Voter registration	Voter Participation Center	Link	Blog
Voter Registration chase replication with VPC	2018	08/23/2019	RCT	Voter registration	Voter Participation Center	Link	Blog
GOTV postcards	2018	08/27/2019	RCT	Voter engagement	½ VPC; ½ campaign	Link	Blog
VR Voting pipeline	2018	8/27/2019	Analysis	Voter registration	Voter Participation Center	Link	Blog
Relational voter turnout on FB	2018	02/19/2020	RCT	Voter engagement	Virginia Tech University	Link	Blog
Recruitment volunteer engagement pilot	2018	N/A	RCT	Volunteer engagement	Virginia Tech University
Confirmation volunteer engagement pilot	2018	N/A	RCT	Volunteer engagement	Virginia Tech University
Recruitment volunteer engagement study	2018	05/07/2019	RCT	Volunteer engagement	Virginia Tech University	Link	Blog
Confirmation volunteer engagement study	2018	05/07/2019	RCT	Volunteer engagement	Virginia Tech University	Link	Blog
Ladder of engagement pilot study	2019	01/05/2021	Pseudo-experiment	Volunteer engagement		Link	Blog
SD 2019 volunteer survey	2019	06/07/2019	Survey	Volunteer engagement		Link	Blog
GOTV texting with NAACP	2019	9/25/2020	RCT	Voter engagement	MS NAACP	Link	Blog
Phonebank/canvass postcard chase pilot	2019	01/04/2021	RCT	Voter engagement		Link	Blog
3 wave educational postcards	2019	1/21/2021	RCT	Voter engagement		Link	Blog
Friendraising pilot	2019	8/27/2019	Pseudo-experiment	Volunteer engagement		Link	Blog
SD 2020 volunteer survey	2020	09/18/2020	Survey	Volunteer engagement		Link	Blog
Friendraising full study	2020	10/21/2020	Pseudo-experiment	Volunteer engagement		Link	Blog
Postcards and letters head to head	2020	10/1/2020	RCT	Voter registration	Voter Participation Center	Link	Blog
Postcard postmark	2020	06/15/2020	RCT	Voter engagement		Link	Blog
Two primaries postcards	2020	2/11/2021	RCT	Voter engagement		Link	Blog
Two primaries substudy	2020	5/28/2021	RCT	Voter engagement		Link	Blog
Covid-19 voting survey with U of M	2020	10/28/2020	RCT/survey (intervention ineffective)	Voter engagement	University of Michigan	N/A	Blog
Phonebank/canvass chaser postcard full study	2020	5/14/2021	RCT	Voter engagement		Link	Blog
2020 primary study downstream analysis	2020	5/27/2021	Analysis	Voter engagement		Link	Blog
Mobilize + personal text study	2021	05/18/2021	RCT	Volunteer engagement		Link	Blog
GA VBM Text Chase	2020	06/15/2021	RCT	Voter engagement		Link	Blog

Contact

Sister District Action Network (SDAN) inspires and empowers legislators, organizations, volunteers, and voters through civic education, rigorous research, policy analysis, and strategic convenings to engage deeply in state legislative issues.

Get in contact with us or if you’d like to sign up to be part of the civic engagement team, click here!

Sister District is a grassroots organization that aims to build enduring progressive power in state legislatures across the country, to improve people’s lives and support Democrats by filling critical gaps at every point in the political life cycle.

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Sister District Project
440 North Barranca Avenue, #8737
Covina, California 91723