Balancing methodological purity and social relevance: monitoring participant compliance in a behavioural RCT

Maintenance of cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, and a physically active lifestyle after structured exercise interventions in individuals with overweight and obesity: A mixed-method follow-up study

“…Our analysis highlights how participants' ability to exercise regularly was structured by and dependent on social and contextual conditions, specific to the individual participant's everyday life, e.g., family life and constellation, work life structure, as well as significant life events. As suggested by recent social practice theory-based work, active living is about more than individual choices and motivation, but dependent on pragmatic negotiations about the distribution of roles and tasks within the household, as well as continuous management and alignment of different and sometimes conflicting practices and agendas in everyday life [ [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] ].…”

Making epistemic goods compatible: knowledge-making practices in a lifestyle intervention RCT on mindfulness and compassion meditation

“…Clinical research is currently shaped by the convergence of two turns (Winther and Hillersdal 2020). On the one hand, a turn towards standardisation and objectivity has placed the randomised controlled clinical trial (RCT) at the top of the knowledge hierarchy in evidence-based medicine (Knaapen 2014).…”

“…I contribute to STS research on clinical trials by shedding light on the knowledge-making practices in a lifestyle intervention RCT. My research builds on previous studies in the fields of disease prevention and public health that analyse how clinical trial researchers carefully negotiate between seemingly contradictory scientific norms-methodological purity on the one hand and social relevance on the other-to create what they consider as robust evidence (Rod et al 2014;Winther and Hillersdal 2020). To expand on these analyses, I examine how knowledge-making practices in an RCT on mindfulness and compassion meditation are related to multiple scientific norms and how researchers engage with tensions between these practices.…”

Ethics in action

“…Clinical research is currently shaped by the convergence of two turns (Winther and Hillersdal 2020). On the one hand, a turn towards standardisation and objectivity has placed the randomised controlled clinical trial or, in short, RCT at the top of the knowledge hierarchy in evidence-based medicine (Knaapen 2014).…”

“…I contribute to STS research on clinical trials by shedding light on the knowledge-making practices in a lifestyle intervention RCT. My research builds on previous studies in the fields of disease prevention and public health that analyse how clinical trial researchers carefully negotiate between seemingly contradictory scientific norms -methodological purity on the one hand and feasibility on the other -to create what they consider as robust evidence (Rod et al 2014;Winther and Hillersdal 2020). To expand on these analyses, I examine how knowledge-making practices in an RCT on mindfulness and compassion meditation are related to multiple scientific norms and how researchers engage with tensions between these practices.…”