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Abstract

Sense-making processes shape the messages and impacts of qualitative research. Using qualitative data analysis methods embedded within a Pacific-Indigenous research paradigm decolonises research. This article discusses the Pacific-Indigenous data analysis processes of talanoa and fa’afaletui employed within a study of Pacific elder care in Aotearoa New Zealand, conducted by scholars of Pacific/Moana heritage. While research literature has primarily identified talanoa and fa’afaletui as data collection methods, we discuss our use of talanoa and fa’afaletui as methods of analysis. Talanoa and fa’afaletui were engaged as collective processes of orality weaving understanding from the researchers’ lived experiences and navigating across languages. Enhancing authenticity and actionability are identified as benefits of talanoa and fa’afaletui collective data analysis. Considerations for implementing these methods are language, logistics and location.

Keywords

qualitative analysis Pacific Indigenous research methods talanoa fa'afaletui decolonising methodologies

Introduction

Decolonising research prioritises Indigenous epistemologies and methodologies. Talanoa is widely adopted across Oceania as a Pacific-Indigenous research method, and fa’afaletui is increasingly engaged as a method utilised in research with transnational Samoan communities. The literature, however, mostly discusses talanoa, and to some extent fa’afaletui, as methods of data collection. In this article, we extend the discussion of talanoa and fa’afaletui as methods of data analysis. Talanoa is postulated to offer a critical dialogical process for analysing qualitative data derived from talanoa data collection. The key insights presented in this article arose out of our experience with qualitative data analysis on a specific project which privileged Pacific-Indigenous ways of knowing. These learnings from ‘doing talanoa’ and ‘doing fa’afaletui’, magnified in the dialogical and dialectical processes we as researchers holistically entered into amongst ourselves and with participant communities, are discussed in relation to both Western and Pacific-indigenous scholarship on qualitative knowledge co-generation. Building on talanoa as relationally mindful critical oratory (Tecun et al., 2018) for the purposes of data collection, we contend that authenticity and actionability of qualitative findings is enhanced when talanoa and fa’afaletui are engaged in the analysis process.

There are four main sections in this article. First, the study is briefly outlined. Second, Pacific-indigenous research methods are introduced – and specifically talanoa and fa’afaletui - with reference to the existing literature. Literature on Indigenous and non-Indigenous qualitative inquiry analysis methods is considered. Third, the team’s experience of collective, collaborative data analysis via talanoa and fa’afaletui in this project is discussed. Fourth, we discuss authenticity and actionability resulting from the use of talanoa and fa’afaletui qualitative data analysis methods, along with considerations for implementing these methods, namely language, logistics and location.

About the Caring for Our Wisdom Bearers Study

The research project, Caring for our wisdom bearers: Pacific Mātua (Elder) care, was a qualitative study with the following objectives: (1) Identify Pacific elder-care practices that contribute to the health and wellbeing of Pacific elders, carers and families; (2) Examine the impact of cultural-contextual change on Pacific mātua care practices; and (3) Detail the socio-cultural and material supports needed to sustain Pacific care practices.

The study was conducted in Aotearoa New Zealand, where Pacific peoples constitute just over 8% of the total New Zealand population. Pacific peoples is an umbrella term for diverse ethnic, linguistic and cultural groups with ancestral links to the nations and places of the Pacific, the ocean which covers more than one third of the globe. In Aotearoa New Zealand, according to the 2018 Census, Samoans comprise nearly half (47.9%) of the Pacific population resident in New Zealand, and Tongans are the second largest Pacific ethnic group with 21.6% (Ministry for Pacific Peoples, 2020). Peoples of the nations of Tokelau, Cook Islands and Niue are also New Zealand citizens, given constitutional arrangements whereby these nations are New Zealand “territories”. Pacific peoples are largely transnational, and there are more ethnic Samoans, Tongans, Tokelauns, Cook Islanders and Niueans living overseas (including Aotearoa New Zealand) than in the countries of their ethnic heritage. Pacific transnationalism, however, includes the multidirectional flows of people, resources (remittances), and cultures across nation-state boundaries. The majority (65%) of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand are New Zealand-born, and the population is relatively youthful – with a median of 23 years compared to 41.4 years for white New Zealanders (Ministry for Pacific Peoples, 2021).

Compared to the New Zealand population in general, Pacific peoples tend to live in larger and more multigenerational households (Ministry for Pacific Peoples, 2021). Research highlights that Pacific families are more likely to be living in extended family households consisting of three or more generations (Poland et al., 2007). As peoples of te moana nui a kiwa (Oceania) comprised of diverse ethnic groups, communities exhibit strong cultural values and traditions that prioritise family and community care. However, Pacific carers face numerous challenges that are often distinct from those encountered by other groups such as, socio-economic disparities, including lower educational attainment, higher unemployment rates, and increased health issues compared to the general population (Marriott & Alinaghi, 2021). Recognising and addressing these disparities is crucial for ensuring the well-being of Pacific peoples and their ability to provide care for their mātua (elders).

In Pacific societies, the older person has an important role within the traditional practice of intergenerational kinship care and multiple systemic living (Vakalahi et al., 2007). New Zealand research shows the value and importance of Pacific elders’ wisdom in families, churches, and communities (Tamasese et al., 2014). Elders are not considered separate to one’s family and are the most respected individuals within the aiga/kāinga (extended family) given their valuable roles as advisors, holders of wisdom and traditional knowledge, healers of social issues, and protectors of family genealogy (Kiata & Kerse, 2004). The traditional belief and practice of respect and care is accorded to elders in order to receive spiritual rewards and blessings (Apulu, 2010). In Samoan society, mātua tausi refers to the practice of honouring and caring for one’s elders (parents/grandparents). Beyond the literal meaning of looking after or caring for elders, mātua tausi is part of a cultural context in which depth of learning and sharing takes place, and an aspect of cultural phenomena that sits at the core of being Samoan as it is the “heart and soul of nurturing” (Efi, 2007). Mātua (elders) themselves provide cultural sustenance as shown in the words of Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi: “They give love and stability and provide the basis for consensus in the family context. They bring wisdom and serve as arbitrators in moments of family upheaval… The place of mātua tausi in the hearts and souls of Samoans are found in the everyday experiences of ensuring they received the best food the family could offer” (Efi, 2007). This Samoan cultural concept illustrates the depth of importance of elder care in Pacific families and to the mobilisation of family members to ensure care is achieved.

Whilst traditionally Pacific households mobilise around caring for Pacific elders, migration to Aotearoa New Zealand has inevitably impacted the care Pacific families have traditionally provided. Mātua tausi is a clear example of Pacific perspectives on health that are holistic and bring together body, mind and soul/spirit contextualised within family, extended family, village/community/church and culture. The philosophical values of spirituality, culture, family, interpersonal relations embedded within Pacific languages underpin a unique Pacific understanding of health that contributes to models of care. The Fonofale model (Pulotu-Endemann & Tuʼitahi, 2009) provides a clear illustration of the holistic nature of health that Pacific peoples espouse.

In this study examining Pacific mātua elder care in Aotearoa New Zealand, Pacific methods of research - talanoa and fa’afaletui - were adopted to co-generate knowledge on Pacific experiences of caring for mātua (elders). Initially, a Tokelau family was engaged as a pilot study, and this was followed with engagement of a sample of Samoan and Tongan families who had experience of intergenerational caregiving for an elder or elders. The participants were drawn from three different church congregations in two different New Zealand cities, one large and one small. Churches were chosen as a point of engagement since churches operate like a “village” for many Pacific peoples in the Aotearoa New Zealand context (Tamasese et al., 2014) and, in contrast to general Aotearoa New Zealand population, a majority of Pacific peoples identify with Christian faith and church affiliation (Ministry of Pacific Peoples, 2021). Fa’afaletui of eight Talanoa (cultural participatory dialogue) were conducted with over 120 participants representing 57 families. Fa’afaletui (collective houses of wisdom) represent Samoan and Tongan populations of the Pacific diaspora including carers, elders, parents and youth.

Overall findings reveal tausi mātua, a unique Pacific aiga/kāinga (extended family) care practice, is a collective system of care based on family life cycle. It is the embodiment of a lifestyle underpinned by inherent cultural values and beliefs that go beyond a ‘practice of care’. It is part of fa’asinomaga (divine designation/cultural identity/connectedness/responsibilities) and halafononga (pathways and journey) and brings meaning and life-purpose as a blessing and inspiration. However, the endowed challenges within the blessing have clearly impacted the lives of carers who are, themselves, from across the generations. The initial Pacific migrant workforce of the 1950s–60s economic boom era has aged in place, creating the first wave of an ageing Pacific population within Aotearoa New Zealand. This has clear implications for the care of Pacific Mātua (elders) who require support to age-free and age-well. The policy implications derived from the study include recommendations which enable Pacific elders to be at the core of family wellbeing. Specifically, the study recommends introducing carer leave provisions in the New Zealand policy context, broadening policy definitions of family beyond the household, extending the provision of pensions beyond the realm countries (portable superannuation provisions), church and community-led centres of care and supply of accessible housing for multigenerational living. The next section discusses our use of Pacific-Indigenous methods – and talanoa and fa’afaletui in particular - that we used to co-generate authentic and actionable knowledge for this study of Pacific Mātua elder care.

Talanoa and Fa’afaletui: Pacific-Indigenous Research Methods

Pacific-Indigenous research methods are philosophically grounded in Pacific-Indigenous notions of knowing, doing and being. These philosophical threads, rooted in Pacific-Indigenous worldviews, constitute a research paradigm inclusive of Pacific-Indigenous epistemology (ways of knowing), ontology (a view of reality), axiology (how values are understood) and methodology (rationale for methods) (Mafile’o et al., 2019). Thus, talanoa and fa’afaletui as research methods are not disconnected from ancient knowledge traditions founded within Moana Nui (Oceania). For example, oral traditions encompass the transmission of knowledge via story, proverb, chant, song and so forth, within Pacific-Indigenous cultures (Vaka et al., 2016).

Furthermore, knowledge transmission and knowledge repositories take place within Pacific relationalities (Anae, 2019; Pacific Early Career Researchers Collective et al., 2022; Sanga et al., 2021). Some Pacific-Indigenous scholars have emphasised different types of knowledge (Sanga & Reynolds, 2020) and, in comparison to Western knowledge traditions, not all knowledge is publicly accessible; rather, knowledge is relationally accessible. Certain clans or individuals within clans would have access to special knowledge, but such knowledge may not be written down. Such knowledge traditions underscore the importance of orality in knowledge co-generation within a Pacific-Indigenous research paradigm.

It follows, therefore, that orality is key for data analysis as well as data collection methods for research grounded in a Pacific-Indigenous research paradigm. Yet Indigenous authors have noted inadequate attention is given to data analysis in Indigenous methodologies scholarship (Yunkaporta & Moodie, 2021). This article gives due attention to talanoa and fa’afaletui as data analysis methods encompassed within a Pacific-Indigenous research paradigm. Talanoa and fa’afaletui are Pacific-Indigenous research methods which enhance the authenticity and actionability of research with Pacific peoples. These two primary methods of data collection and analysis drawn on in this study are discussed next.

Talanoa

Talanoa is a word found in several Pacific-Indigenous languages, including the vernaculars of Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Tokelau. In recent decades, talanoa has been widely engaged as a Pacific-Indigenous research method (see, for example: Abkar et al., 2022; Fa’avae et al., 2016; Nabobo-Baba, 2008; Suaalii-Sauni & Fulu-Aiolupotea, 2014; Tecun et al., 2018; Vaioleti, 2006; Vaka et al., 2022; Vunibola et al., 2022). Talanoa has been described from a Tongan cultural perspective as relationally mindful critical oratory (Tecun et al., 2018) and as storytelling without concealment (Halapua, 2000); talanoa as a research method is able to “get to the heart of the story” (Vaka et al., 2022). Talanoa has also been shown to be a useful approach beyond use by and amongst Pacific peoples (Maniam, 2022) as it captures Pacific worldviews and provides a culturally safe place for participants to share about their perspectives. The characteristic feature of Talanoa is the simultaneous process of relational engagement within cultural connectedness that results in the organic co-construction of new knowledge (Vaioleti, 2006, 2013).

Fa’afaletui

Fa’afaletui is a “Samoan process of gathering knowledge from houses of collective wisdom” (Alefaio-Tugia, 2022, p. 83). The notion of fa’afaletui has been used variously by Samoan scholars engaging in studies within Samoan contexts (see for example: Alefaio-Tugia, 2014; Goodyear-Smith et al., 2022; Mulipola et al., 2023; Suaalii-Sauni & Fulu-Aiolupotea, 2014; Tuia & Cobb, 2023). Tamasese et al. (2005), the first to publish about fa’afaletui as a research methodology, utilised fa’afaletui in a study of Samoan perspectives of mental health. In their process, fa’afaletui was used to engage groups of elder men, elder women, young men and younger women as separate groups first. Following dialogue within these groups, the groups shared their perspectives and insights with each other. This approach allowed each group to maintain the integrity of their perspectives, whilst also having the space to share that knowing with the other groups, and to arrive at a shared perspective. This sharing and weaving of knowledge from different “houses” in a collective process is the core of fa’afaletui method. As a dynamic process, fa’afaletui is both knowledge gathering (weaving) and impartation (transfer). This process of transformative knowledge is embodied within the depths of fa’afaletui and not only carries content for research but more importantly leaves a spiritual imprint on the researcher’s own life.

Fa’afaletui analysis has been described as a “wisdom-searching process” (Alefaio-Tugia, 2022, p. 86). The significance of fa’afaletui dialogical analysis is its explicit recognition of, and ability to draw deeply from, layers of meaning within culturally grounded knowing. The complexities of translating and interpreting between Pacific-Indigenous languages and the English language in research are responded to in fa’afaletui; rather than over distilling in a one-dimensional analysis, the fa’afaletui dialogical analysis process seeks to hold the granularity and nuance inherent in culturally grounded knowledge production. Fa’afaletui-dialectical analysis was introduced in psychology as a form of cultural analysis for re-theorising psychology from a Pacific-Indigenous lens. The cultural analysis termed fa’afaletui-dialectical, explored the collective contribution of cultural collaborators in the land of Samoa. Going back to Samoa, the historical place/space where cultural values and beliefs were derived, is the dialectical premise.

While thematic analysis as a mainstay of qualitative research provides the process of deciphering themes through analysing transcripts and emphasising the interpretation of data consistent with the research framework (Braun & Clarke, 2006), fa’afaletui-dialectical analysis deals directly with Pacific-Indigenous research frameworks and has at its core ‘language’. Therefore, the analytical process deals with the process of translations of language and the embedded cultural meanings within language. It is useful to consider the conventions of qualitative data analysis and their limitations in order to articulate how talanoa and fa’afaletui add to the conversation and practice of qualitative data analysis, especially for research with Pacific peoples, as demonstrated in our study.

Qualitative Data Analysis and Its Limitations

A starting point for the critique of qualitative inquiry analysis, is acknowledgement of the inequity in knowledge production more generally. The identification of WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic) psychologies (Henrich et al., 2010), for example, reveals the major inequity of knowledge production in the science of psychology, where psychological studies (primarily quantitative) were based on less than 20% of the world’s population, and the majority of these being American college students. Indigenising psychological theory, research and practice across the Asia Pacific region (Alefaio-Tugia, 2022; Kim et al., 2006; Levy, 2007; Nikora, 2007; Pe-Pua, 2015; Waitoki et al., 2018) has already begun to shine a light on the cultural relativity and epistemic issues associated with such applications of WEIRD psychologies. Underpinning these developments is the pivotal acknowledgement that people’s cultural worldviews, ways of being and relating to others, are embodied and profoundly relational value systems that are central to their psychologies (Havea et al., 2023). The authenticity and actionability of WEIRD psychologies for application with Pacific communities can therefore be called into question.

Similarly, it is valuable to assert the importance of applying an inclusive Pacific-indigenous epistemology and paradigm. When two or more Pacific ethnic knowledges are woven together, it provides more space, in-depth meaning and clear definition of Pacific concepts and paradigms. For example, land in Fiji is vanua, whenua in Māori, and fonua in Tonga. These words, which are linguistically connected, also refer to the female placenta. This example shows how deep the related concepts of fonua/whenua/vanua are in their reference not only to ecological land but to human society, connecting across Indigenous ways of knowing, doing and being. Monolingual, Western qualitative analysis may not be as capable of capturing such depth, nuance and authenticity across multiple languages and cultures of those engaged in social research.

Moving to consider qualitative analysis, thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2012) is a highly utilised western method for qualitative data analysis; it is “arguably the most influential approach” (Maguire & Delahunt, 2017, p. 3353) to analysing qualitative data and has frequently been coupled with talanoa for data collection within Pacific research. More specifically, reflexive thematic analysis “emphasises the importance of the researcher’s subjectivity as analytic resource, and their reflexive engagement with theory, data and interpretation” (Braun & Clarke, 2021, p. 3). However, it remains clear that the six phases of thematic analysis described as “scaffolding” (Braun & Clarke, 2021, p. 4) for learning analysis skills - are a linear, rigid, systematic approach. The “most recent articulation” of Braun and Clarke’s (2021) six phases are: (1) data familiarisation and writing familiarisation notes; (2) systematic data coding; (3) generating initial themes from coded and collated data; (4) developing and reviewing themes; (5) refining, defining, and naming themes; and (6) writing the report (p. 4).

This approach regards analysis as external observation, creating something new through the interpretation of tangible, categorised data. In contrast, a Pacific-indigenous approach integrates lived experiences with intergenerational knowledge, embracing the non-linear, holistic, and spiritual essence of Pacific peoples, which becomes interwoven into the analysis itself.

In their own words, Braun and Clarke (2012) explain, “if your analysis is a brick-built house with a tile roof, your themes are the walls and roof, and your codes are the individual bricks and tiles” (p. 61). The visual is clear – while houses can vary greatly in appearance and size, they are restricted by requirements to ensure the strength and stability of the structure. A stark contrast is evident when considering the intricate craftmanship and creative nature of weaving, and the infinite and ethereal essence of the moana/ocean. Such a juxtaposition highlights the fundamental differences between Western and Indigenous approaches to data analysis. It underscores the limitations of Western approaches, such as thematic analysis, and what the realm of Pacific-Indigenous research can offer, especially when researching with Pacific peoples.

Talanoa and fa’afaletui were engaged as methods of collective analysis within the current project on Pacific elder care. We contend that using these methods enabled deeper levels of authenticity and actionability. The next section discusses our experience of talanoa and fa’afaletui analysis within our study of Pacific elder care in an Aotearoa New Zealand context.

Our Experience of Talanoa and Fa’afaletui as Qualitative Analysis

Analysis in our research took place inter-subjectively, within a web of relationalities. We are all Oceania researchers connected by Pacific-Indigenous ancestry to moana-nui-a-kiwa, yet we have diverse experiences and perspectives. Collectively, we identify as belonging to a range of different Pacific-Indigenous ethnic groups - Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu – and our team includes both New Zealand-born and Island-born researchers. Aside from our ethnicity and culture, we are positioned as part of different academic disciplines and professions, spanning psychology, nursing and social work. An important premise of our analysis was the acknowledgement and appreciation of our positionalities, especially the points at which we shared similar perspectives and experiences, and the points where we differed in our personal, cultural and professional knowing and experience. For example, at different stages of the project, our discussions oscillated between Samoan and Tongan cultural contexts, ensuring the project and the analysis was responsive to both cultural perspectives and community settings.

Talanoa was an explicit collective weaving together of insights from the data and our own lived experiences to deepen, nuance and advance the analysis. During project conception, implementation, and dissemination, lead researcher, Associate Professor Siautu Alefaio-Tugia, shared with team members her motivation to spearhead this project being her experience of caring for her mother in palliative care. This served to motivate the team to progress the project. It was also a ‘reality-check’, raising our consciousness and sensitivity to the lived experience of elders and elder care in our communities of study. We also met intermittently with our advisory of Pacific elders who themselves had experience working with Pacific elder care or other areas of social care. Their storying of their professional and life experiences contributed to our collective understanding of our communities’ lived realities. This storying, in turn, shaped the lens we applied in sense-making the qualitative data.

Analysis was ongoing throughout the course of the project, characteristic of emergent and flexible qualitative design and in-process analysis (Patton, 2014). Guidance on thematic analysis gives attention to the steps involved in theming (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2021) but rarely identifies the importance of critical dialogue amongst researchers – and amongst researchers and participants - in advancing, invigorating and shaping the analysis and subsequent reporting

As such, talanoa in our process included reflections on how we were “living” the findings, as some of our team members were in the process of elder care within our own households. Team talanoa also referenced our experiences with parents and elders in our own families which further illustrated the cultural concepts of caring in the participants’ storying. A moment when this weaving of lived experience deepened our understanding, was when the team reflected on a participant’s story of how the church community was part of the web of care provided for her aging mother, including the elder spending time at another community member’s house and telling stories from back in the islands, and then how the concept of care included sacrifice. We reflected on the Tongan value of ‘ofa (love/compassion), which is outward and other-focused, rather than inward and individual self-focused.

A team member recounted how one of their family members growing up had thought that their mother liked to drink haka vai, stock water from boiled root vegetables, thinking it must be a special privilege to drink it instead of eating the actual root vegetables. It was later in life that they realised their mother was drinking the haka vai so that other members of the family could eat to their content. This led to members of our research team sharing about how our parents, during our high school and university exam times, had gone to extra lengths to cook special food for breakfast, or to buy real fruit juice to drink when it was not usually affordable and available. These experiences of care, the expression of action-based values in our own family experience, richly illustrated a parent’s ‘ofa and were recognised as enabling our education pathway. The two Tongan researchers’ experiences resonated, while the two Samoan researchers were able to contrast both similarities and differences with their cultural experiences. This research team talanoa in turn helped us to decipher the nuances of family-based care in different ethnic specific (Samoan and Tongan) contexts. Our sense-making of our own experiences wove in to deepen and sharpen our sense-making of the participants’ stories. In this way, talanoa assisted to make explicit the assumptions and experiences we bring as researchers (Patton, 2014), but also was critical to developing the analysis. The talanoa process – a process of weaving together content from the participants’ talanoa and our lived experiences as researchers - was at once iterative, creative and generative. This team talanoa experience richly enhanced our analysis and knowledge co-generation. These deepened insights contributed to our conceptualisation of tausi mātua¸ as a family life cycle – that is, that care is mutual within an extended family context recognising seasonality and transitions in care practices in transnational Pacific families.

The environment and form in which we gathered for collective data analysis had a bearing on the quality and depth of the qualitative data analysis. The team came together in several in-person meetings and workshops, despite there being project delays impacted by covid-19 restrictions. In-person gatherings provided space for collective data analysis processes to develop. It was during these in-person gatherings that our team talanoa and fa’afaletui dialectical process evolved. These gatherings variously included sharing food, singing and praying together – all of which are culturally-informed ways of working which engage relational, sensory and creative knowing (Mafile’o, 2020).

One gathering venue was a writing retreat centre close to the beach. It was the end of summer, and we physically immersed ourselves in the ocean at the end of each day watching the sun set and the moon rise. This immersive experience in the salty ocean, with its ebbs and flows, became a metaphor for the analysis processes we were jointly undertaking, and was a meaningful anchor point throughout our talanoa. We reflected on how Tongan weavers, when weaving kie, highly prized white fine mats, do so in the ocean as the water magnifies the weaving. Immersed in the ocean, going deeper, surrendering to the process, and cleansing, all become symbolic of our analysis process. The team reflexivity took place during and after these ocean experiences. This aspect of ‘ocean analysis’ in our qualitative research process involved whole-body learning, and embodiment of analysis. ‘Ocean analysis’ – gifted by moana – facilitated the team’s multi-dimensional, holistic knowing, resonant with Pacific-Indigenous epistemologies (Mafile’o et al., 2019; Meyer, 2001; Raymond, 2021). Such embodied analysis process strengthened the mutual connectivity and commitment amongst our research team to pursue action to implement the research findings. This found expression, for example, in our combined efforts to travel and present the findings to the Pacific Caucus of the Labour Party when the opportunities arose, speaking directly to relevant decision-makers.

Data collection also included a degree of co-analysis and dialectical fa’afaletui directly with participants. Samoa participants’ data collection was conducted in-person - with groups of elders, caregivers and youth meeting separately. After each group had met separately, they shared the key points of their fa’afaletui with the other groups, demonstrating the dynamic fluidity of fa’afaletui where the thinking from different fale (houses) are woven together. This illustrates how fa’afaletui is also a holistic process of collective co-design and analysis. Mirroring Pacific village contexts, participants themselves selected the types of groups according to their priorities and opted into these voluntarily. This afforded an initial phase of talanoa that was directly connected to age or aiga/kainga (family) function i.e. Tupulaga (youth), Tamā (Fathers), Tinā (Mothers), Matua tausi (elders), carers (Au Tausi Matua). Following this initial phase of fa’afaletui with various groups coming together to share talanoaga (depth of dialogue) of life-experiences from caring for Matua (elders), the next phase was bringing all groups together. The dynamic of sharing with the whole group is fa’afaletui-dialectical exchange and a collective process of analysis which equates to both co-design and analysis, as participants share, shed tears, realise aspirations and recognise vision-bearer dreams with researchers as facilitators of the fa’afaletui exchange. The dynamism of this collective co-design and analysis is the depth of shared experiences that enable participants themselves to acknowledge a shared burden of care and the need to work together as a village-church/family collective. This depth of fa’afaletui through direct reflective discussion and collective analysis is a fluid, holistic process similar to the motion of the moana (Pacific Ocean). Cementing these findings further for government action, researchers and church group leaders presented early findings at a sector providers talanoa (symposium) and invited governmental high-level fonotaga (meeting). Talanoa with Pacific elders and community leaders who formed the project’s advisory also contributed to deepening analysis and sense-making data.

In summary, talanoa and fa’afaletui Pacific-Indigenous research methods were employed throughout the course of the research. Beyond being methods of data collection, talanoa and fa’afaletui were core to the data analysis process. As explained above, these methods facilitated inter-subjective, critically conscious dialogue and reflexivity which engaged diverse ways of knowing, doing and being. The next section further discusses talanoa and fa’afaletui dialectical analysis in relation to existing qualitative research methodology scholarship.

Discussion: Authenticity and Actionability Enhanced in Talanoa and Fa’afaletui Dialectical Analysis

In our research team’s experience, greater authenticity and actionability were realised as a result of using talanoa and fa’afaletui dialectical analysis in Pacific-Indigenous research. While talanoa and fa’afaletui dialectical analysis stand up as research methods in their own right, and do not need to be referenced to authors from the north to be legitimated, they do offer up alternative approaches and further nuancing of qualitative inquiry. As such, talanoa and fa’afaletui dialectical analysis enrichens qualitative inquiry scholarship. Talanoa and fa’afaletui dialectical analysis explicitly address the complexities of conducting data analysis in cross-language research.

Talanoa and fa’afaletui dialectical analysis extend the scholarship and practice of authenticity in qualitative research. Well established as a marker of quality in naturalistic inquiry, authenticity in qualitative research has five criteria (Lincoln & Guba, 1986; Guba, 2004). First, fairness is the extent to which divergent constructions of reality have been taken into account. In our analysis process, effort was made to privilege Pacific-Indigenous worldviews, which are otherwise consistently marginalised in the academy where Western thought dominates. When research intersects Indigenous and Western knowledge systems, authenticity requires adequate space for Indigenous thought to influence the interpretation and translation of knowledge.

Ontological authenticity is the next criterion, understood as the extent to which individuals’ (both inquirers and respondents) early constructions are improved, matured, expanded and elaborated. Talanoa analysis is an iterative procedure by which a priori positions are explicated, comparisons can be made between earlier and later constructions, and there is a collective understanding of the changes made over the course of a project. Being directed more by relational than temporal directives, talanoa maximises the processes for achieving ontological authenticity.

Educative authenticity is the extent to which individuals develop enhanced understanding and appreciation for constructions of others outside their own stakeholder group. Fa’afaletui data generation processes embed this very dynamic, with different groups meeting separately and then sharing their thoughts with other groups. Furthermore, talanoa and fa’afaletui-dialectical analysis brings forward meanings which are authentic in the languages in which they were expressed. Reflexive thematic analysis has been identified as inadequate for deep analysis when research, such as our study - operates across more than one Pacific-Indigenous language (Alefaio, 2022; Rangiwai et al., 2021). Greater depth of insight, understanding and perspective in cross-language research is possible with talanoa and fa’afaletui dialectical analysis. By extension, the educative capacity of research outcomes is realised across diverse cultural positions.

Catalytic authenticity and tactical authenticity, respectively, are the extent to which action is stimulated by the research process and the degree to which participants are empowered to take action. As a result of our team talanoa process, opportunities to present and share findings with elder-care policy decision-makers were identified and taken up. Action arising from our meeting with the Pasifika caucus of the government (members of parliament of Pacific ethnicities), for example, included work to draft a carers leave bill, as a direct recommendation and action resulting from the research process.

Talanoa and dialectical fa’afaletui data analysis resonates strongly with the “thought ritual” method of data analysis developed by Yunkaporta and Moodie (2021) which is a hybridisation of Indigenous oral culture practice and thought experiment. Their method has the following stages:

1. “Connection: Identify the relational pairs of agents (participants), data points, variables etc. and the networks of pairs these form, and the pairs of networks (i.e. different systems or data sets or thematic categories interacting), using visual modalities to express these relations.

2. Diversity: Use narrative in collaboration with other participants to identify similarities, differences and areas of overlap between different variables, agents and data points.

3. Interaction: Use oral culture metaphors and forms of expression to replicate the exchanges of energy, information or matter between the different agents, variables and data points in the field.

4. Adaptation: Use supra-rational moments of ancestral connection to identify transformative feedback loops and chains of cause and effect in which data points change, attract change or interact with other data points to produce change events. Time is non-linear in this process, so the changes you perceive might be in past, present or future.” (Yunkaporta & Moodie, 2021, p. 89)

Similar to the diversity stage, talanoa and fa’afaletui-dialectical analysis uses collaborative narratives to deepen understanding. Talanoa and fa’afaletui-dialectical analysis also foster an environment conducive to the use of oral culture metaphors and forms of expression, as per the interaction stage of the thought ritual method. Finally, as illustrated in our team’s use of talanoa analysis in ocean spaces, moments of ancestral and spiritual connection were expected, welcomed and engaged to shape both thought and future action resulting from the research.

Conclusion: Considerations for Implementing Talanoa and Fa’afaletui Data Analysis

Talanoa and fa’afaletui are Pacific-Indigenous research methods being engaged and developed by Moana/Pacific/Oceania scholars seeking to embed their work within an Indigenous research paradigm. Inadequate attention, however, has been given to the ways talanoa and fa’afaletui are methods of data analysis. As the qualitative data analysis in this study of Pacific elder care in Aotearoa New Zealand has illustrated, insights for implementing talanoa and fa’afaletui data analysis can be summarised into three key considerations: language, logistics and location.

Language is the first important consideration. It is important to recognise that the concepts and practices of talanoa and fa’afaletui are not pan-Pacific and are themselves embedded within linguistic and cultural traditions beyond the academy. Debate exists on the uptake of talanoa and fa’afaletui in mainstream Western academia. Debate includes, for example, whether the use of English – a language perpetuating colonialism in the region (Autagavaia, 2006) – in data collection and analysis can still be considered talanoa and fa’afaletui. Hence, an important consideration for implementing talanoa and fa’afaletui data analysis is how Pacific-Indigenous languages can be privileged and kept present throughout the analysis.

Logistics also have an important bearing for the implementation of talanoa and fa’afaletui qualitative data analysis. A further consideration for implementing talanoa and fa’afaletui data analysis relates to logistics and scheduling. As illustrated by our example within this project, talanoa and fa’afaletui analysis required time away in spaces conducive to holistic, embodied and collective exchange. Research project planning and budgeting, therefore, needs to support research teams to spend intensive time together to allow such analysis to unfold.

Finally, location of the researchers relationally, within communities, is a key consideration. Talanoa and fa’afaletui data analysis is best positioned within participatory approaches, where the subject-researcher delineation is kept fluid. There is strength in researchers being a part of communities they research with, not feigned objective gazers looking in. Qualitative talanoa and fa’afaletui analysis is deepened when there are existing ancestral, cultural and community relational connection between researchers and research participants.

Decolonising research methodologies (Smith, 2019) must extend to the ways qualitative data is analysed. This article has illustrated how talanoa and fa’afaletui, as Pacific-Indigenous research methods were engaged for qualitative data analysis, extending the literature which has primarily discussed talanoa and fa’afaletui as methods of data collection. Talanoa and fa’afaletui enabled the weaving together (or lalaga/lalanga) of diverse Pacific perspectives within a single project. This collective weaving, centralising talanoa and fa’afaletui Pacific-indigenous research methods, is a means by which qualitative research analysis is decolonised.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand 18/579: Caring for our wisdom bearers: Pacific Matua (Elder) care.

Ethical Statement

Disclaimers

The views expressed in this article are our own and are not an official position of the funder, Health Research Council of New Zealand.

ORCID iDs

Tracie Mafile’o

Petra Satele

Siautu Alefaio-Tugia

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Decolonising Qualitative Analysis: Collectively Weaving Understanding Using Talanoa and Fa’afaletui Pacific-Indigenous Research Methods

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

About the Caring for Our Wisdom Bearers Study

Talanoa and Fa’afaletui: Pacific-Indigenous Research Methods

Talanoa

Fa’afaletui

Qualitative Data Analysis and Its Limitations

Our Experience of Talanoa and Fa’afaletui as Qualitative Analysis

Discussion: Authenticity and Actionability Enhanced in Talanoa and Fa’afaletui Dialectical Analysis

Conclusion: Considerations for Implementing Talanoa and Fa’afaletui Data Analysis

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Funding

Ethical Statement

Disclaimers

ORCID iDs

References