How Tikanga guides and protects the research process: insights from the Hauora Tane project.

• Author: Jones, Rhys

Abstract

This paper examines Maori research practices in the context of a current project exploring the health of Maori men. Drawing on experiences of the researchers in undertaking the study to date, we outline some of the major issues that have arisen and examine the application of tikanga Maori in a research context. The discussion illustrates how traditional Maori concepts, values and practice--such as mana, tapu, he kanohi i kitea, whakawhanaungatanga, manaakitanga, koha and aroha ki te tangata--can safeguard the research process, the knowledge that is produced, as well as the researchers, participants and communities. In so doing, we highlight points of difference that make Maori research processes unique, and seek to open discussion around the notion of a distinct theoretical basis for health research with Maori men.

INTRODUCTION

This paper aims to explore elements of tikanga (2) Maori and the implications for contemporary kaupapa Maori research, using the current research project, Hauora o riga Tane Maori: Health and Maori Men (hereafter Hauora Tane) as a working example. Drawing on experiences of the researchers in undertaking the study, we outline significant issues that have arisen and that demand an examination of traditional Maori values, concepts and processes. In so doing, we highlight features that make kaupapa Maori research unique, particularly as they manifest themselves in Maori-led research conducted with Maori men. Based on the above, we seek to open discussion around theoretical and methodological approaches to research with Maori men.

Kaupapa Maori Research

Kaupapa Maori research is a philosophical framework that has emerged at least partly in response to the largely negative impact of conventional Western research on Maori. As Smith (1999) states, "Research was an important part of the colonisation process because it defines what legitimate knowledge is." Colonial research has been instrumental in the development of theories that have legitimated the dispossession and dehumanising of Maori, privileging Western ways of knowing and denying Maori the validity of our knowledge, language and culture (Walker 1990, Stewart 1997, Durie 1998, Smith 1999, Moewaka Barnes 2000). Historically, Pakeha researchers have failed to recognise the existence of cultural differences, and assumed that the Pakeha way of doing things is a universal norm (Metge 1986, Cram 2001, Nairn et al. 2006).

In the health arena, this has led conventional positivist health research to questions, methodologies, methods and collection of data that have little meaning for Maori. In addition, analysis and interpretation has been processed through the filter of Western cultural assumptions, leading to a focus on negative aspects of Maori realities (Paraha 1993, Teariki et al. 1992, Pihama 1994, Jahnke and Taiapa 2003), labelling Maori as the problem instead of adopting a more system-analytical approach (Crengle 1997). It is important to remember that the things that are being researched, in terms of Maori health, are a product of the history of colonisation (Jackson 1996, Cram 1997, Cunningham and Stanley 2003).

Furthermore, much research has simply been descriptive, without contributing to change. There is an expectation among Maori that research in which they participate will benefit Maori in some way (Cram 1997) or even be transformational (Bishop 1996, Smith 1997). Similarly, with much previous research the researcher has "owned" the information and has not been accountable to the participants or the community (Te Awekotuku 1991, Cram 2001, Jahnke and Taiapa 2003).

A kaupapa Maori foundation is related to being Maori and being connected to Maori philosophy and principles, and with such a foundation the validity and legitimacy of Maori knowledge is taken for granted (Smith 1997). It is part of a wider struggle towards decolonisation, which includes challenging Pakeha hegemony and reclaiming Maori realities, which is crucial to facilitating positive Maori development (Pihama et al. 2002). Smith (1999) sees kaupapa Maori research as an attempt to "retrieve some space"--first, to convince Maori people of the value of research; second, to convince the research community of the need for greater Maori involvement in research; and third, to develop new research strategies and approaches.

Kaupapa Maori in research is concerned with methodology (a process of enquiry that determines the methods used) rather than method (tools that can be used to produce and analyse data). While kaupapa Maori research can be viewed as having underlying principles or philosophies that are based on a Maori world view, methods are likely to be subordinate to the issues and utility of the research and may be drawn from a wide range of approaches (Cram 1997, Smith 1999, Moewaka Barnes 2000, Edwards et al. 2005). An important feature of kaupapa Maori research is that one must undertake research that will have positive outcomes for Maori (Smith 1999).

Kaupapa Maori challenges accepted norms and assumptions relating to the construction of knowledge and instead searches for understanding within a Maori world view (Bishop 1996). There is a growing body of literature regarding kaupapa Maori theories and practices that asserts a need for Maori to develop initiatives for change that are located within distinctly Maori frameworks (e.g. Jenkins and Pihama 2001).

Pipi et al. (2004) have described how kaupapa Maori research practices were operationalised within the Maori and Iwi Provider Success research project. They argue that critically reflecting on these practices helps us to make the subconscious become conscious. Similarly, we seek to examine the practices used in the Hauora Tane study, a project that differs from previously described projects in several important ways. Most importantly, it is a study by and for Maori men, a domain of kaupapa Maori research that lacks a sound theoretical and practical knowledge base. We believe the lessons learned from reflecting on the study's processes contribute to an understanding of the diverse ways in which tikanga shapes our research practices.

THE HAUORA TANE PROJECT

In this section we examine the development and data-gathering processes of the Hauora Tane project. This study is being undertaken by a team based at the Tomaiora Maori Health Research Group, University of Auckland, with support from the Maori Women's Welfare League (MWWL). Broadly speaking, the study consists of two phases. Phase One has been funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and is in progress at the time of writing. It is a qualitative study involving individual interviews with a national sample of Maori men, from which thematic analyses will encompass the key domains and parameters of Maori men's health as articulated by our participants. These insights will be of value in and of themselves, since effective health advancement for any group is dependent upon a detailed understanding of their lived experience and social practices. They will also inform the subsequent development of a survey questionnaire designed to examine the range, prevalence and determinants of health issues among Maori men as a population. The planned Phase Two study will comprise a representative national survey of Maori men, using the health questionnaire developed in Phase One.

Background to the Study

Maori men fare poorly in terms of health status and experience a disproportionately high burden of disease compared with other population groups in Aotearoa. Despite the vast array of quantitative data about the ill health, social exclusion and deprivation of Maori men, there is a paucity of qualitative information about the aetiology of this status, its experiential dimensions and the contemporary issues influencing the health of Maori men from their own perspective. Current policies that aim to address Maori men's health and reduce the disparities between Maori and other men are therefore based on information which, for the reasons sketched above, is at best incomplete, and at worst invalid or misleading.

According to the 2001 census there were 157,000 Maori men aged 15 years and over living in New Zealand, with 87% living in the North Island and 83% in urban areas (Statistics New Zealand 2002). Educational outcomes for Maori men are significantly worse than those of non-Maori men. Maori men are also more likely to be unemployed and have significantly lower average income than non-Maori men (Statistics New Zealand 2002). Maori are greatly over-represented as both criminals and victims in the criminal justice system (Te Puni Kokiri 2000).

Maori men continue to have the lowest life expectancy of any of the major population groups in New Zealand (Ajwani et al. 2003). In 2000-2002, life expectancy at birth was 69 years for Maori males, compared with 77.2 years for non-Maori males and 73.2 years for Maori females (Ministry of Health 2002a). During the last two decades, Maori males were more than twice as likely to die prematurely as non-Maori males (Sporle et al. 2002). Maori men experience significantly higher morbidity due to cardiovascular disease (Hay 2002), type 2 diabetes (Ministry of Health 2002b), and particular types of cancer (New Zealand Health Information Service 2002) than non-Maori, non-Pacific men, and have much higher rates of smoking (Ministry of Health 2002e).

Maori have a different mental illness profile to non-Maori (Ministry of Health 2002d), with different patterns of hospitalisation (Te Puni Kokiri 1996). Drug and alcohol abuse is also a significant issue for Maori, and the rate of youth suicide is much higher for Maori males than it is for non-Maori males (Ministry of Health 2002c, Ajwani et al. 2003). Maori males have by far the highest mortality rate due to injury of any population group in New Zealand (Ministry of Health 1999). When...