Keeping the Control Group Controllable: Lessons on Implementation From a Translation Study

Abstract

FUEL Your Life is a worksite translation of the Diabetes Prevention Program that was tested in a large transportation company to determine its effectiveness. The effectiveness study utilized an experimental control group design where six worksites were randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions (three sites per condition), with the control group receiving no planned intervention. Outcome measures were collected pretest, posttest (6 months), and follow-up (12 months) via biometric measures and surveys. After posttest data were collected on all of the sites, it became apparent that one of the worksites in the control group had significantly increased their weight loss activities to “make the site look better.” This is referred to as compensatory rivalry where social competition may motivate a control site to show it can perform as well as the treatment sites despite not getting the same benefits. This is a threat to the internal validity of the study. This case study will detail the research study and the activities of the confounding site, demonstrate the impact that site had on the overall outcomes of the study, and discuss lessons learned from our experience that can be applied to field research, particularly when conducted in worksite settings.

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