1800000.00 · UK public procurement notice

Lot 1: Applying innovative behavioural thinking to a policy problem.

Energy & Net Zero policy often faces new difficult problems which require original perspectives. These might be knotty complex problems and cut across a range of policy areas which would benefit from joined up thinking and taking a wide perspective. It may also be useful to further understand the behavioural processes or unintended consequences which affect green choices (e.g. social identity, co-benefits).

Projects like this would require thinking innovatively and challenging existing thinking or approaches. This might involve approaches such as: applying behavioural models, evidence and techniques in new ways; drawing from other fields to inform behavioural problems; or bringing new theoretical or methodological perspectives to the issue. Example projects could be drawing on historical or international trends to outline potential behavioural impacts of future events; anticipating any behavioural spillover effects of green choices; and understanding the impact of uncertainty relating to future Net Zero policies on green choices.

We would generally not expect these projects to involve primary research. Instead, they may include workshops (generally online or in person) and/or reviewing the literature to provide a behavioural perspective. Ideally, they should bring together a range of experts (e.g. from academia) to work on these problems innovatively and progress our thinking.

Lot 2: Policy development and testing with the general population.

This lot includes two requirements: (a) understanding end users to inform policy development and (b) testing the impact of policy proposals.

For (a), research will focus on policy areas in early stages of development which require further understanding and engaging the general population. This will require translating problems into behavioural terms, conducting primary and/or secondary research and applying behavioural analysis to the findings (e.g. barriers analysis, consumer journey mapping, solution generation). This could include qualitative research, quantitative research, or mixed methods. This should be able to cover owner occupiers and tenants across a range of ages, environmental views and heating types. Note that projects may require additional small components with other samples too (e.g. stakeholder interviews). We would expect these projects to draw on the findings to present a range of behavioural solutions to the issues raised to help inform the design and delivery of policy.

For (b), research will focus on policy areas in later stages of development that might need to test policy proposals or behavioural interventions to identify their potential impact at scale. This could include trialling different communication and implementation techniques or experiments to test the impact of different policy ideas against each other. This will likely require experimental methods or qualitative / user testing if experimental methods are inappropriate. Experimental research might involve randomised controlled trials and/or quasi-experimental methods, although they may have to be conducted online given the rapid nature of the framework. We may also ask the supplier to provide expert behavioural review of policy proposals or provide expert advice such as developing methodologies to support testing of behavioural interventions.

For quantitative research (both surveys and experiments), suppliers should be able to draw on random probability samples, which are the default requirement for projects. Alternatives such as adding questions to omnibus surveys and quota samples will occasionally be considered where appropriate for individual projects. We ask that bidders detail their sampling approaches in their application, including detailed information on panels and their risk of bias.

Lot 3: Policy development and testing with complex samples.

This lot includes the same two requirements as Lot 2: (a) understanding end users to inform policy development and (b) testing the impact of policy proposals, but specifically focuses on complex and hard to reach samples.

For (a), the research will focus on policy areas in early stages of development which require further understanding and engaging with complex and hard to reach groups. This will require translating problems into behavioural terms, conducting primary and/or secondary research and applying behavioural analysis to the findings (e.g. barriers analysis, consumer journey mapping, solution generation). This could include qualitative research, quantitative research, or mixed methods. We expect suppliers to be able to sample from a range of groups, including SMEs, large businesses, installers, private landlords, and owner occupiers and tenants who are harder to reach (e.g. individuals with disabilities, digitally excluded). This would include being able to work with sampling frames provided by the Contracting Authority and the ability to contact match and address match.

For (b), the research will focus on policy areas in later stages of development that might need to test policy proposals or behavioural interventions to identify their potential impact at scale. This could include trialling different communication and implementation techniques or experiments to test the impact of different policy ideas against each other. This will likely require experimental methods or qualitative / user testing if experimental methods are inappropriate or difficult given sampling requirements. Experimental research might involve randomised controlled trials and/or quasi-experimental methods, although they may have to be conducted online given the rapid nature of the framework. This could also involve providing expert behavioural review of policy proposals or providing expert advice such as developing methodologies to support testing of behavioural interventions.

For quantitative research (both surveys and experiments), suppliers should be able to draw on random probability samples, which are the default requirement for projects. Alternatives such as adding questions to omnibus surveys and quota samples will occasionally be considered where appropriate for individual projects. We ask that bidders detail their sampling approaches in their application, including detailed information on panels and their risk of bias.