Toward a Strategy for Undertaking Cross-Cultural Collaborative Research

Indigenous peoples have expressed concerns about conventional forms of research into their lives. In response, some researchers have developed culturally appropriate models of social science research. This article reviews the author's experiences in addressing indigenous peoples' concerns about research, and hence her work toward developing a culturally appropriate and collaborative approach to cross-cultural research. A number of methodological and conceptual issues arise in cross-cultural collaborative research, including the importance of adopting a culturally appropriate research methodology, the role of the researcher, participation in the research process, rights to "traditional" indigenous knowledge, and, indeed, the nature of research-based knowledge. Each of these issues is discussed in the context of undertaking collaborative research into the lives of New Zealand's indigenous peoples, the Maori. The article also reviews the issues that arose when negotiating a research agreement between the University of Otago and local Maori for undertaking collaborative research.