Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [124]-130). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 308-317).

This thesis presents an empirical study of dendroclimatology, with the purpose of contributing to a wider understanding of the way scientists generate knowledge about climate change. Dendroclimatology is a science that produces knowledge about past climates from the analysis of tree growth. For two years, I have studied the work of a group of dendroclimatologists, joining them on fieldwork and sampling expeditions in the Scottish Highlands, observing how they generate data from tree samples to reconstruct past temperatures in Scotland and examining how they have mobilised a Scottish temperature reconstruction in a scientific debate over historical changes in climate. This thesis develops two parallel narratives about the practice of making dendroclimatological knowledge and the roles of trust and scepticism in this process. In describing how dendroclimatologists work to extract information about past climates from trees, I identify the importance of trust relationships and scepticism at each stage of their work. I conduct a symmetrical analysis of both trust and scepticism in science. In the past, scholars studying science have emphasised the critical role of either trust or scepticism in the construction of scientific knowledge, and have paid relatively little attention to examining the relationship between the two. In my study, I demonstrate that scepticism is part of the ordinary practice of dendroclimatology, and that scepticism in normal science (which I call “civil scepticism”) is fundamentally dependent (or “parasitic”) on existing trust relationships established through a variety of means. Dendroclimatologists engage in intimate interactions and mutual scrutiny of each other’s competence throughout the work they do in the field and in the laboratory, and they build upon and expand these trust relationships to create and defend climate reconstructions. I show that dendroclimatologists sustain trust relationships in part by demonstrating that they are competent sceptics (which I call “sceptical display”) and, in part by provisionally suspending their scepticism to permit agreement on what constitutes valid dendroclimatological knowledge. I also analyse how these internal practices of scepticism and agreement are influenced by sceptical challenges from actors external to the dendroclimatology community, including challenges grounded in similar trust relationships (a further instance of civil scepticism) and challenges that are not (which I call “uncivil scepticism”). I conclude that dendroclimatological knowledge is only possible as a result of contingent social negotiations over the distribution of trust and the boundaries of a trusting community.

The aim of this research project is to investigate the hegemonic and posthegemonic arrangement regarding trust and power in order to establish whether the concept of 'trust' between banks, customers and the media is sustainable. This research challenges the notion that customers are losing 'trust' in banks by questioning the original existence of 'trust' and critically examining the components comprising what is seen as 'trust', as well as assessing the role played by the media in the process of building/destroying trust. What the literature shows is that despite there being a body of knowledge regarding trust in various fields within business, the issue of trust in the banking sector is becoming prominent. Although trust in banking has become a popular research topic (see, for example, Devlin et al 2015), few studies interrogate the concept of trust. This research was based on an inductive qualitative approach using critical discourse analysis to analyse data collection. The research found that there are four main components of trust that customers want in the banking sector and they are hope, expectation, belief and confidence. One can argue that trust is posthegemonic. The emotions produced from the articles are affective and it does not matter whether one has knowledge about the subject or not, affect can change opinions. The articles affected the four components of trust which led to a lack of trust from the customers towards the banks. Therefore, an argument can be made that the media influenced the public's perceptions of banks during the financial crisis and that many of these perceptions persist to the present day. There is scope for further research. One area of research could be to test the framework of trust developed in this research. Another area could be to measure the impact of the media during the financial crisis.

This thesis seeks to contribute to the organisational trust literature by investigating the relevance of trust to organisations through executive self-reports, and exploring the potential congruities and incongruities of these self-reports with the existing trust literature. Further, the study allows for the participants to introduce unique conceptualisations of trust in organisations that may not appear in the literature but might be worthy of further consideration and research. The results of this study begin to fill an existing gap in the trust literature by considering the perceptions of the most senior executives in the corporate environment. A trust typology is proposed (Chapter 5) which distinguishes between characteristics of genuine trust and surrogate trust. Definitions widely cited in the literature are analysed against the typology, and the executives' definitions are compared to consider congruities and incongruities of definitions. The dynamics of trust are examined (Chapter 6), and an optimal trust path for transactions is proposed (Chapter 7). The possible economic impacts of trust in organisations are evaluated (Chapter 8) and new conceptualisations from executive reports are analysed. The extensive use of metaphors by the executives to convey trust is examined (Chapter 9). Alternative configurations of trust are examined (Chapter 10) and a model for optimal trust transactions based on the literature and executive reports are presented. The final chapter argues that future studies may benefit from the findings of this thesis, including key considerations in defining trust for research in organisations, recognising that executives may view trust as an asset that is strategically invested like any other corporate asset, expanding the scope of trust and its potential economic impacts on the organisation, and developing new models for building trust.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine if social capital for parents in a low-income urban school would develop through structured or unstructured parent-teacher meetings. The parent-teacher meetings were developed to provide opportunities for parents and teachers to meet to build relationships and develop trust through teaching and learning how to support reading fluency and reading comprehension strategies. In order to build relationships between parents and teachers both parties need to trust one another. Trust is the foundation of relationships but before parties can trust one another, opportunities to form relationships need to be provided. In the case of parents and teachers, the study suggests that the parent-teacher meetings might be a starting point to provide opportunities to form trusting relationships. As parents and teachers work collaboratively to support the academic needs of the children, parents will increase their social capital and learn how to navigate the school system. The findings of the parent-teacher meetings showed that the perceptions of parents and teachers varied. The findings of the study did not display any noticeable differences in responses between the structured and unstructured group of participants. Parents appreciated meeting with teachers to learn how to support student learning at home and believed teachers were influential in the educational experience of their children. Teachers believed: parents want to support student learning at home, but lack academic skills; parents are the influential in the educational experience of the students; and parents are hesitant to ask school staff for help. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2013

Context: Due to popularization of internet and e-commerce, more and more people getting involved in online shopping market. A large number of companies have been transferred to the internet where online customers have been increased due to easy access. The online business facilitates people to communicate without knowing each other. The e-commerce systems are the combination of commerce behavior and internet technologies. Therefore, trust aspects are positive elements in buyer-seller transactions and a potential source of competitive e-commerce industry. There are two different approaches to handle the trust. The first approach has a solid authentication set of rules where decisions are made on some digital or logical rules called policy based trust mechanism. The second approach is a decentralized trust approach where reputation assembled and shared in distributed environment called reputation based trust mechanism. Objectives: In this thesis, the strengths and weaknesses of policy and reputation based trust mechanisms have been identified through systematic literature review and industrial interviews. Furthermore, the process of integrated trust mechanism has been proposed. Methods: The integrated trust mechanism is proposed through mapping process, weakness of one mechanism with the strength of other. The proposed integrated trust mechanism was validated by conducting experiment with buyer/seller scenario in auction system. Conclusion: The analysis of collected results indicated that proposed integrated trust mechanism improved the trust of buyer against eBay and Tradera. At the end, we have discussed some key points that may affect trust relationship between seller and buyer. Furthermore, there is a need for further validation of proposed trust mechanism in auction system/e-commerce industry.

In an age marked by declining trust, cultural divisiveness and secularism, Restorative Witness offers a theological stance to undergird evangelism by using the lens of reconciliation. Drawing on the work of Miroslav Volf, Restorative Witness offers a theological exploration of evangelism, including an examination of the current climate of Western culture regarding issues of trust, mistrust and distrust; a historical overview of factors leading to the present situation; and observations regarding current difficulties facing the church in the arena of evangelism and reasons for those difficulties. The exploration uses theological resources in the areas of evangelism, biblical studies and systematics to offer a new theological disposition from which to engage evangelistic efforts. Firmly grounded in the biblical events of creation, the incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the ascension, Pentecost, and new creation, this theological stance takes seriously understandings of ecclesiology and the kingdom of God with the goal of restoring strength, integrity and power to Christian witness in an age of mistrust and divisiveness.

How do organizations build trust under varying degrees of uncertainty? In this article, we propose that different degrees of uncertainty require different bases of trust. We distinguish between three different forms of trust production (process-based, characteristics-based and institution-based) and develop hypotheses regarding their relative effectiveness under low versus high levels of product and performance uncertainty. Using survey data on 392 interorganizational buyer-seller relationships, we find support for our position that a high degree of uncertainty favours process-based trust production, whereas characteristics-based trust production is relatively more effective when uncertainty is low. The effectiveness of institution-based trust production is not significantly affected by uncertainty. We derive implications for organizational trust production under different degrees of uncertainty, which should encourage new research on trust.

M.A. / Contemporary organisations and the people working within these organisations are currently facing a high degree of change which is having an adverse affect on the employer-employee trust relationship. This study examines the nature of this change and, in so doing, considers the issue of the post-industrial and the post-modern as an indicator of the arrival of a new era. The conclusion is reached that the grand narratives are inadequate as explanations for the arrival of a totally new era and that they rather refer to what may be seen as a transformational process. In this regard, attention needs to be given to more narrow theories. With this in mind emphasis is placed, not only on the continuities within society, but on social discontinuities and, in particular, on the erosion of employer-employee trust. The issue of trust as a factor in organisational success is discussed in some depth while attention is given to contemporary theories of trust and the apparent lack of synthesis amongst these theories. An attempt is made, based on some of the theories discussed, to develop a comprehensive model of trust. This model deals with both the conditions that lead to the onset of trust and those factors of trustworthiness which may enhance or erode trust within an existing relationship. The impact, of what appears to be the emergence of a new epoch and in particular the changing nature of work, on the notion of organisational trust is also discussed. Such issues as job losses, reduced opportunities and increasing work loads, changing job structures, changing employee values, organisational diversity and the rise of individualism are considered. This leads on to the conclusion that, within an increasingly competitive world, trust plays a central role within an organisation. For this reason it is argued that it is important for employer and employee to address the erosion of trust, and for the sociologist to become involved by taking an active role, as both researcher and facilitator, in the process of improving the employer-employee trust relationship.