This core project will provide a systematic study of the transdisciplinary research process as it evolves through the collaborative interactions among members of the proposed TTURC. Little if any prior research has examined specific strategies for promoting cross-disciplinary research and the translation of research findings into effective interventions for reducing tobacco susceptibility and use. The major goal of this study is to gain an understanding of key factors that enhance or impede the success of transdisciplinary scientific research on tobacco susceptibility, use, and intervention. 'The project's principal objectives are: (l) establish criteria for identifying and distinguishing among multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary forms of scientific collaboration; (2) develop a conceptual model that posits key antecedents, intermediate processes, and outcomes of transdisciplinary' research and suggests criteria for measuring those facets of scientific collaboration; (3) implement a series of structured exercises and team interventions, based on the conceptual model, which are designed to facilitate effective transdisciplinary collaboration; (4) conduct a participant-observation case study in which the project leader and a graduate researchers record the content, affective qualities, and scientific outcomes of informal team discussions and regularly-scheduled TTURC-wide meetings; and assess the effectiveness of team interventions aimed at facilitating successful transdisciplinary collaboration; (5) analyze and interpret the survey, observational, and archival data gathered during this study to develop a grounded theory of transdisciplinary scientific collaboration that can serve as a guide for fixture cross-disciplinary research; and as a shared framework for evaluating and enhancing the processes and outcomes of transdisciplinary collaboration at other TTURC Centers throughout the country.
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