Assessing collaboration among team scientists within a triadic research center partnership

Area of Science:

• Health disparities research
• Team science
• Qualitative research methods

Background:

• Limited qualitative research exists on interdisciplinary team collaboration effectiveness.
• Team development stages provide a framework for understanding team dynamics.
• Cancer health disparities research programs involve diverse institutional settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess perceived collaboration effectiveness in interdisciplinary research teams.
• To characterize challenges and successes in team development using qualitative methods.
• To provide recommendations for enhancing team cohesion and productivity.

Main Methods:

• Inductive analysis of open-ended survey responses over two years.
• Utilized stages of team development as a theoretical framework.
• Compared experiences between minority-serving institutions (MSI) and predominantly White institutions (PWI).

Main Results:

• Identified specific challenges and successes in team development processes.
• Qualitative data revealed key factors influencing team cohesion and productivity.
• Differences in team dynamics were observed between MSI and PWI settings.

Conclusions:

• Awareness of team development stages is vital for research teams.
• Understanding team dynamics can improve interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Recommendations are provided for principal investigators leading team development.