Kaupapa Māori Research Notes

Transforming Chaos to Order

Learning Objectives

• Gain an understanding of the principles of Kaupapa Māori Research (KMR)

• Gain an understanding of some of the methods compatible with Kaupapa Māori Research (KMR)

• Gain an understanding of important researcher considerations

Kaupapa Māori Research

• Historically, indigenous knowledges have been marginalized, mistreated, and misrepresented within research from its inception, through to informing principles and processes, and in the production of literature and publications (Smith, 2009).

• Western knowledge economies and research practices are based on values, rules, principles, and ideologies that differ fundamentally from indigenous perspectives (Smith, 2009).

• Indigenous theories, including Kaupapa Māori theory, have been developed (and are still developing) upon the understanding of the many complex elements of being an indigenous person. There is a focused sensitivity towards cultural identity, practices, customs, and knowledge (Smith, 2009).

• Self-determination for indigenous people is an important driving force in the development of Indigenous theories and is at the heart of an Indigenous research agenda.

• Surrounding self-determination are the concepts of transformation (political, psychological, collective, and social change), decolonization (in social, political, spiritual, and psychological spheres), mobilization (on national, international, and global levels), and healing (restoration in psychological, physical, social, and spiritual spheres) (Smith, 2009).

Decolonizing Methodologies

• In Decolonizing Methodologies, Linda Tuhiwai Smith states that “research is probably one of the dirtiest words in the indigenous world’s vocabulary” (p. 1).

• Kaupapa Māori is a non-deficit approach with the potential to avoid superficial issues and examine the deeper underlying issues, including structural inequities (Walker, Eketone, and Gibbs, 2006).

• Kaupapa Māori is more than a form of resistance; it is the actualization of Tino rangatiratanga; the fundamental basis by which Māori tikanga can be used to inform policy, educational and research practice, and the health and well-being of Māori.

• Kaupapa Māori Theory raises questions around power, control, ownership, and questions the construction of truth.

Kaupapa Māori Theory: Key Principles

• Tino Rangatiratanga – The Principle of Self-Determination. Allows Māori to control their own culture, aspirations, and destiny.

• Taonga Tuku Iho – The Principle of Cultural Aspiration. Emphasizes the validity of Māori ways of knowing, doing, and understanding the world.

• Ako Māori – The Principle of Culturally Preferred Pedagogy. Teaching and learning practices that are preferred by Māori.

• Te Tiriti o Waitangi – The Principle of the Treaty of Waitangi. Critically analyze relationships, challenge the status quo, and affirm Māori rights through te Tiriti.

• Kia piki ake i ngā raruraru o te kainga – The Principle of Socio-Economic Mediation. KMR provides positive benefit to Māori communities overcoming hardship.

• Whānau – The Principle of Extended Family Structure. Relationships are central, and the researcher has an ongoing relationship with research stakeholders.

• Kaupapa – The Principle of Collective Philosophy. The research contributes to the community’s aspirations and purpose.

• Āta – The Principle of Growing Respectful Relationships. Building and nurturing relationships and well-being when engaging with Māori.

Kaupapa Māori

• Gives full recognition to Māori cultural values and systems.

• Is a strategic position that challenges dominant Pākehā constructions of research.

• Determines the assumptions, values, key ideas, and priorities of the research.

• Ensures that Māori maintain conceptual, methodological, and interpretive control over the research.

• Is based on a philosophy that guides Māori research and ensures that Māori protocol will be followed during research processes (Bishop, 1996; Cram, 2001; Powick, 2003; Smith, 1999a, 1999b; cited in: Walker, S., Eketone, A., & Gibbs, A. 2006).

Kaupapa Māori Research: Examples of Guiding Concepts

From Inception to Publication and Beyond

• Overarching key principles guide the KMR from the very start.

• Essentially, KMR is by Māori and for Māori.

• Guiding concepts and frameworks assist in the development of the research project at ALL stages and inform appropriate actions/ways of writing/analysis, etc.

Whanaungatanga

• Whanaungatanga relates to belonging, a sense of purpose, and relationships.

• A sense of belonging is of paramount importance to Māori (Durie, 1994; Moeke-Pickering, 1996).

• Whanaungatanga is enacted and explored through cultural practices, social protocols, wairua, the fulfillment of responsibilities, and multiple roles in context (Spiller, Barclay-Kerr & Pahono, 2015).

• Whanaungatanga provides a system of interrelation that recognizes the purpose of coming together, the diversity of experiences, genealogy, wairuatanga (spiritual connectedness), and an expectation of unity and reciprocity (Durie, 1998, 2004; Mead, 2003).

Whānau

• The concept of whānau is important when considering connectedness and belonging; in particular, to peoples and to land.

• “The whānau constitutes the basic foundation that supports all other aspects of Māori society” (Groot, Hodgetts, Nikora, Rua& Groot, 2015, p 61).

• The relationship between peoples and land is evidenced in the words tangata whenua (peoples of the land) and papakāinga (home of the earth).

Mauri

• According to Marsden (2003) and Peet (2006), mauri is the ''physical life principle,” that is, the essence which brings life to the physical, whether that be human, flora, fauna, or marine life.

• Durie (1988) posits that mauri is that which binds the spiritual and the physical, and that one without the other equates to death.

• Mauri is the life force of the physical, in relation to soil, water, or air; mauri provides the capacity to support life (Marsden, 2003; Peet, 2006).

• In relation to people, mauri can be nurtured through displaying kindness, support, and care (manaakitanga) and can be diminished through callous and damaging interactions.

Methodological Considerations

• There has been some contention among academics, in that the scrutiny placed on kaupapa Māori theory reminds one of the power of colonisation.

• Māori academics often view qualitative methods as being highly compatible with Kaupapa Māori Research (Barnes, 2000; Smith, 2009; Smith, 2016).

• Qualitative methods are designed in a way that allows for the exploring of personal lifeworlds (Braun, Clarke & Terry, 2014).

• The narratives emerging from the use of qualitative methods privilege the participant as the holder of knowledge.

• The use of semi-structured interviews and open-ended questions provides for rich data sets (Braun & Clarke, 2013).

• The flexibility within qualitative methods compliments Kaupapa Māori Theory; an example of this is the ability to undertake interviews in a setting the collaborator feels comfortable.

• Conducting an interview on the collaborators’ terms, in a space and at a time they have chosen, is important for ethical engagement and reducing negative stigma around research and is important when working with Māori.

• Research that is Māori-led, Māori-controlled, and acknowledges a Māori way of thinking as the norm is crucial to the development of academia in New Zealand.

• The acceptance of Kaupapa Māori theory and methodology into the academic world is increasing among research projects and literature (Pihama, Cram & Walker, 2002).

• Central to Kaupapa Māori theory is the assumption that Māori protocol will guide interactions and behaviour throughout the research project and the use of the data, reports, academic writings post-research (Walker, Eketone and Gibbs, 2016).

• Te reo (Māori language) is important for expressing, conceptualizing, and exploring the korero of collaborators; ideally, every spoken and written aspect of the research proceeds in Te reo Māori.

• The English language is viewed as being inadequate in describing Kaupapa Māori Research primarily when discussing Māori concepts such as mauri (life force), whakawhanaungatanga (relational connections), mana (prestige and status), manaakitanga (hospitality), and whanau (family, extended family).

Reflexive Thematic Analysis Compatibility

• Thematic analysis is a widely used qualitative method within psychology (Braun & Clarke, 2022).

• At a basic level, thematic analysis is useful for identifying, analysing, and interpreting patterns of meaning (themes) within qualitative data (Braun & Clarke, 2006).

• Since its inception in 2006, Braun and Clarke have written extensively on thematic analysis, allowing them to refine their thinking and approach (Braun & Clarke, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022).

• Braun and Clarke have since come to refer to thematic analysis by the term Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Reflexive TA), as this recognizes that a reflexive researcher is a fundamental characteristic of thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022).

• Reflexivity involves the critical reflection and interrogation of the researcher's values, the methods and aspects of design, and, more broadly, the academic discipline. This reflexive process shapes how research and knowledge are produced.

Honouring our Past, Fostering our Future

A Kaupapa Māori Exploration of Identity, Whanaungatanga and How this Supports Rangatahi Māori Hauora and well-being by Keryn Koopu

• The wider Harnessing the Spark of Life project aimed to explore how whanaungatanga influences health and well-being for rangatahi Māori.

• From the inception of this project, right through to the dissemination stages, this project engaged in a Kaupapa Māori research methodology to ensure that this research foregrounds Māori aspirations and uplifts mātauranga Māori (Lindsay Latimer et al., 2021).

• The wider project utilized a mixed-methods sequential exploratory design and was separated into three phases.

• Phase one consisted of three parts:

  • Part (A) involved a participatory photo-voice methodology in which 51 rangatahi Māori documented in pictures their understanding of whanaungatanga and how this influenced their well-being. The photos were then used to stimulate discussion in semi-structured group interviews with rangatahi and their whānau.

  • In part (B) of phase one, semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 13 Māori practitioners who work with rangatahi and whānau in Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Canterbury regions in Aotearoa.

  • Part (C) of phase one involved drawing together this data to develop a more nuanced understanding of the mechanisms of whanaungatanga that contribute to rangatahi well-being.

• Phase two drew on the findings from phase one to develop a set of survey questions to measure the components of whanaungatanga.

• Phase three was concerned with the dissemination of findings.

6 Steps in Action

• Data Familiarisation and Writing Familiarisation Notes

  • Reading and re-reading through rangatahi transcripts, repeatedly viewing the associated photos.

  • Listening to kōrero from rangatahi through audio recordings of interviews.

  • Taking notes and highlighting potential points of interest to examine how rangatahi narratives provide insight into experiences of identity, whanaungatanga, hauora and well-being and the broader colonial contexts in which these experiences have developed.

  • Keeping a reflexive journal to note initial analytic ideas, which helped to find meaning from the data.

• Systematic Data Coding

  • Identifying sections of data that appeared to be potentially interesting, relevant or meaningful in relation to how whanaungatanga interacts with identity and how this supports hauora and well-being for rangatahi Māori.

  • Assigning codes (labels) to segments of data.

  • Each interview transcript was copied into a Microsoft Word document during this process.

  • Identifying potential patterns for a deeper, nuanced investigation to create codes for interesting features of the data.

  • The codes identified were both semantic and latent, although it is important to note that these exist on a continuum.

  • Some of the codes identified were semantic and were drawn specifically from rangatahi accounts, and other codes became more latent as the analysis process developed.

Whanaungatanga as Praxis

• Whanaungatanga facilitates the creation of relational space.

• Relationship is key in Te Ao Māori (The Māori World).

• Whanaungatanga is central to working with, collaborating/researching with, and being with Māori.

• Nurturing and maintaining relationships comes with expectations and responsibilities.

Keryn Koopu Researcher Positioning

• For Māori, whakapapa is an analytical tool for understanding our world and relationships (Pihama & Cameron, 2012).

• Identity, first and foremost as Māori, and identity as a researcher begins and ends with whakapapa.

• Unravelling the many layers of whakapapa and exploring how this intertwines with identity, perspectives, lived experiences, and view of the world helps to shed light on how this thesis was developed.

Keryn Koopu Epistemology

• A social constructionist epistemology is drawn upon to decentre and critically interrogate the dominant colonial discourse.

• A social constructionist epistemology posits that there is no singular truth to our experiences, nor is there an objective way of knowing the social world (Braun & Clarke, 2013).

• Knowledge is constructed, given meaning to, and reproduced through the language, social processes, and interactions one engages in (Burr, 2015; Linsay-Latimer, 2018; F. Smith, 2020).

• Knowledge is a socially generated phenomenon that relies on human interpretation (Martel et al., 2021).

• The political, social, cultural and historical intertwine to shape multiple perspectives and ways of being that can coexist in parallel (Burr, 2015).

Keryn Koopu Ontology

• Salmond (1993) states that a Māori ontology considers two aspects of human existence - one visible, tangible and every day, the other invisible, intangible and extraordinary.

• Western paradigms have often delegitimised and failed to comprehend the physical and metaphysical relationships between people and the environment deeply entrenched in Māori cultures, worldviews, cosmologies and realities (Cooper, 2017; Martel et al., 2021; Wilson et al., 2021).

• For example, Western discourse will frequently translate wairuatanga to 'spirituality', which posits our specific knowledge within a supernatural realm, removing mātauranga from rational thought and delegitimising its importance (Mika, 2017).

• Within this project, the importance of wairuatanga in research, in tandem with the experiences, ideas and beliefs of rangatahi Māori as real, valid and legitimate, was considered

• This approach aligns with a critical realist approach to research (Braun & Clarke, 2013).

Researcher Considerations

• How will you relate to your collaborators?

• What is the nature of your relationship in the research context?

• Are there restrictions? Guidelines?

• Vulnerable communities often engage in research, how will you safeguard these communities?

Upholding Mana

• How will you uphold the mana of vulnerable communities and individuals?

• What measures or checks can you use along the research journey?