Study 1
Cumberbatch and Barnes (2018) used a randomized controlled trial to examine how text message reminders influence attendance rates for victims and witnesses called to appear in court. The study was conducted in Staffordshire, England, across three magistrates’ courts in North Staffordshire, Cannock, and Derby.
Data on witnesses and victims was obtained from the Witness Management System. Participants were randomly assigned to either the treatment or the control group. The treatment group received a nudge text message for a court appearance, and the control group did not. The nudge text was standardized; however, personal information, such as the person’s name and the date of the trial, were inserted. The study was conducted for 15 weeks with an average of 54 participants per week.
The sample comprised 811 witnesses or victims randomly assigned to the treatment or control groups. The two groups were well balanced on age, gender, ethnicity, geographic location, and victim-to-witness ratio. Of the treatment group (n=405), 61 percent were British, 4 percent identified as other, and 35 percent did not state their ethnicity. A little over half of the treatment group (53.2 percent) were witnesses, and the other half (46.8 percent) were victims. A total of 330 messages were successfully sent to participants in the treatment group. Twenty-six witnesses were excused from appearing at the trial, two witnesses informed the police of their refusal to appear, and nine witnesses were unable to be contacted when the text messages failed to send. Of the control group (n = 406), 56 percent were British, 4 percent identified as other, and 40 percent did not state their ethnicity. Less than half of the control group (47.41 percent) were witnesses, and a little more than half (52.59 percent) were victims. An independent t-test was conducted to identify potential differences in court appearance rates for the two groups. The study authors conducted subgroup analyses.