Table 1.
Participant demographics
| Variable | Mean ± SD (range) |
| Age (years) | 40.63 ± 11.03 |
| Years of research experience total | 11.73 ± 8.67 |
| Years of research experience specific to trials of complex healthcare interventions | 7.32 ± 6.75 (18–73) |
| Variable | N (%) |
| Gender | |
| Female | 203 (76.9) |
| Male | 60 (22.7) |
| Prefer not to say | 1 (0.4) |
| Country | |
| Republic of Ireland | 91 (34.5) |
| England | 66 (25.9) |
| Scotland | 31 (11.7) |
| Canada | 31 (11.7) |
| Australia | 11 (4.2) |
| Wales | 8 (3.0) |
| Northern Ireland | 6 (2.3) |
| USA | 5 (1.9) |
| Denmark | 4 (1.5) |
| Norway | 3 (1.1) |
| The Netherlands | 2 (0.8) |
| Switzerland | 1 (0.4) |
| Ethiopia | 1 (0.4) |
| South Africa | 1 (0.4) |
| Italy | 1 (0.4) |
| Prefer not to say | 2 (0.8) |
| Level of qualification | |
| PhD | 127 (48.1) |
| Masters degree | 88 (33.3) |
| Undergraduate degree | 38 (14.4) |
| MD | 9 (3.4) |
| None | 1 (0.4) |
| Prefer not to say | 1 (0.4) |
| Area of research | |
| Multidisciplinary (any combination of categories) | 116 (43.6) |
| Medical | 43 (16.2) |
| Allied health professionals | 29 (10.9) |
| Health services research | 21 (7.9) |
| Medical and health professionals (i.e. any combination of Medical, Nursing and Allied health) | 16 (6) |
| Nursing/midwifery | 14 (5.3) |
| Psychology | 11 (4.1) |
| Public health | 8 (3) |
| Public health and health services research | 5 (1.9) |
| Other | 3 (1.1) |
| Level of involvement with trials | |
| Researcher | 174 (65.9) |
| Principal investigator | 78 (29.5) |
| Research practitioner | 52 (19.7) |
| Trial methodologist | 42 (15.9) |
| Student | 37 (14.0) |
| Practitioner | 27 (10.2) |
| Manager/co-ordinator | 23 (8.7) |
| Epidemiologist | 9 (3.4) |
| Statistician | 3 (1.1) |
| Other | 11 (4.2) |
| Aspect of trials involvement | |
| Data collection | 237 (89.8) |
| Design/development | 201 (76.1) |
| Reporting | 194 (73.5) |
| Data analysis | 177 (67.0) |
| Delivering the intervention | 159 (60.2) |
| Other | 12 (4.5) |
| Previous training/research in intervention fidelity | |
| Never received any formal or informal training | 137 (51.7) |
| Informal self-directed research | 83 (31.6) |
| Formal teaching (e.g. lectures, seminars) | 24 (9.1) |
| Formal research (e.g. PhD, MSc) | 20 (7.6) |
| Unsure | 1 (0.4) |