Collaboration Data as Evidence of Trust

As illustrated in Table 1, collaboration can be viewed as a by-product, or an indirect measure, of cognitive trust or affective trust. To investigate collaboration within the Center, two sociometric surveys were conducted. As mentioned earlier, each survey asked Center members to identify other Center members they were currently collaborating with. The first survey took place one year after the Center was established; the second took place two years after the Center was established.

The number of collaborations reported among faculty scientists increased from an average of 2.37 per scientist to 3.36 per scientist or a 41.7% increase (see Table 2). A larger increase was seen in the growth of collaborations among scientists at different universities than among scientists at the same university (61.1% versus 27.6%). This indicates that collaboration among scientists within the organization has developed across universities (and distances). It suggests that the organizational structure, power and use of ICT within the conceptual organization have facilitated, or at least not impeded, the formation and maintenance of trust.

Table 2: Reported Collaborations in the Center

	After one year		After two years		Change between 1st and 2nd year
	Total Collaborations	Collaborations per Person	Total Collaborations	Collaborations per Person	Total Collaborations	Collaborations per Person	% change per person
Among all scientists	71	2.37	148	3.36	+77	+0.99	+41.7
Among scientists at the same university	37	1.23	69	1.57	+32	+0.34	+27.6
Among scientists at different universities	34	1.13	80	1.82	+44	+0.69	+61.1