Qual + quant = ? Integrating the social with the technical in a regulatory evidence base

The question of what constitutes "evidence" in evidence-based decision-making is a growing area of scholarly debate. Even in the social sciences-where qualitative methods are common currency- it is possible to find scholars who will assert the value of a nuanced, contextual account while at the same time suggesting it is a 'less valid' form of evidence than quantified, scientific data. Nonetheless, the value of qualitative, sociallysituated evidence is appreciated in powerful circles: witness the growing demand for public input into evidence-based regulatory decision-making, especially in contested areas of science and technology. In this paper, I present the early stages of a project to broaden a specific regulatory evidence base. I briefly outline the academic literature informing this project, with reference to some 'best practice' examples of how this tension has been negotiated internationally in risk regulation regimes. Then, referring to my participant-observation at Canada's Health Products and Food Branch, I describe this project's strategy in addressing the challenges of establishing a hybrid socio-technical model of evidence within existing institutional practices reliant on quantitative measures of risk.