Talanoa: A contemporary qualitative methodology for sport management

Highlights

•	Indigenous approaches to research allow sport management researchers to examine their roles in knowledge production.
•	Sport management researchers should be contributing to the broader conversations regarding decolonizing indigenous research.
•	Where possible, sport management researchers should work collaboratively and create opportunities for capacity building of local researchers.
•	Appropriately deigned research which informs our understanding about cultural diversity is fundamental if inclusiveness is to occur.
•	For a more nuanced understanding of all dimensions of sport management, research from a multitude of paradigms will need to occur.

Abstract

In an interconnected world, and with cultural diversity ever present, there is growing recognition in sport management for the need to understand such diversity alongside the desire for more inclusive organisations and processes. Research which informs these understandings is thus fundamental. Planning and doing research in an environment where the culture is different can, however, add a level of complexity to the research. No matter the project phase - conception, design, data collection or analysis - cultural consideration must be given (Johnston, 2014). Those undertaking research in differing cultural settings often look to find a research approach which marries with the cultural context. In the Pacific region, or for those working with Pacific people, a popular choice is talanoa. Drawing on empirical work with Pacific rugby athletes, the authors outline the talanoa process – an “embodied expression of the vanua concept” (Farrelly & Nabobo Baba, 2012, p. 1). Ethical issues, challenges, and opportunities in using this approach are reflected on, and the value of talanoa to sport management research and in particular the sub-field of sport-for-development is considered. The authors argue the importance of talanoa as a culturally-appropriate contemporary qualitative research approach when working with Pasifika people or Pasifika issues. Approaches such as talanoa are valuable for challenging sport management researchers to further examine their own roles in the process of producing sport-specific knowledge; for decentring current approaches to sport management research and for shifting the discipline towards politicization; as well as contributing to broader conversations regarding decolonising indigenous research (Shaw & Hoeber, 2016; Skinner & Edwards, 2010; Skinner et al., 2014).

Keywords:

• Decolonizing
• Pacific islands
• Politicization
• Qualitative research
• Talanoa

Acknowledgements

This research platform and drawn on various pools of funding, but specifically we acknowledge the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aid Division for funding this research (see Stewart-Withers et al., 2014a, 2014b) and Massey University Research Funds.

Notes

1 Rochelle: As Chair of a university ethics committee, a teacher of a post-graduate methodology course and with numerous successful PhD and Masters student completions, qualitative approaches to research are normative in my worldview.

2 We argue qualitative approaches are neither better nor worse than quantitative approaches to research, they are just different. They help one find different information, for the purpose of answering different questions.

3 Pasifika is a term that is unique to New Zealand and is often used by government agencies to describe migrants from the Pacific region and their descendants, who now call New Zealand home. While it is a term widely used it is also contested. Different spellings can also be seen. In our paper, for the main part, we use the term Pacific.

4 Fiji has had a number of periods of political instability with two coups d'état in 1987, and again in 2000 and 2006.

5 Ofanoa (2015) has recently argued talanga - the Tongan way of enquiry, defined as interactive talking with purpose - to be a better approach to research between Tongan and non-Tongan researchers than talanoa in view of context. In responding to participant needs, the talanga methodology emerged out of participatory action research exploring the use of a community development/health promotion model with urban Tongan participants in South Auckland, NZ. While unique intricacies can be seen with the differing approaches, what is being referred to in general is “‘Pacific ways’ of talking about an issue of common concern with reference to customary forms of talk” (Robinson & Robinson, 2005, p. 2).

6 For rich, thick accounts of talanoa, these can best be seen by reading the works of Nabobo-Baba, and Meo-Sewabu, for example. Many talanoa scholars, most of whom we make reference to, have written in detail, describing deeply the emotions and processes, using local language to add richness. Comparatively our writing lacks this depth. This was a purposeful decision because we wanted to concentrate on our processes and experience in planning and doing the fieldwork.

7 We used written paperwork with other parts of the project, however, to gain formal consent to undertake the research, and when working with government officials.

8 Utmost consideration was also given to our research team in terms of positionality as insider/outsiders; specifically, we highlight our indigenous team member who, we would argue, was the most valuable to the project. To expand on this, Koli has an MBA and is Fijian. He was raised in Fiji, he speaks the language and is connected to the vanua. He played professional rugby for Fiji, with 27 caps. He played in the French Top 14, the UK and Japan before coming to NZ for the NPC competition and retiring in 2008. As a team, we had had been working together since 2012, building a research platform exploring rugby as livelihoods options and the value and importance of sport generated remittances to the Pacific.

9 We believe talanoa can also occur in English. The point is to speak the language that the participants are most comfortable with, which can in some instances be a mixture of, for example, Fijian and English. In NZ, talanoa occurs with Pacific people who do not speak a Pacific language. We favoured using Fijian, though, because we were talking about talanoa as an embodied expression of the vanua.

10 Smith (2012) suggests insiders face different challenges when doing research. As noted by Meo-Sewabu (2014), being an insider still poses a risk: “Doing anything that goes against my cultural values, marks me and my family for a lifetime” (p. 345).

11 In looking to return to her family village to do fieldwork -which was culturally correct, as including them in the research recognised the importance of their knowledge - explains the sevusevu for her research was determined by her ‘cultural discernment’ group. Her sevusevu took into account that both Meo-Sewabu and her mother had missed many important events such as funerals. She states “the collective nature of the Vanua research methodology meant that to go alone into my own cultural setting would be an insult first to my immediate relatives, and to those receiving me at the village. Therefore, I had a group of relatives who I refer to as the ‘cultural discernment’ group who would advise me; they would often accompany me. Their role was to ensure that how I conducted the research was culturally appropriate and ethical. The cultural discernment group decided that tabua (polished whale’s tooth—a highly prized, spiritually significant item) and yaqona (kava) would be needed for the sevusevu. Relatives provided five tabua which we presented to the elders to acknowledge that we had missed paying our respects to those who had passed on. Other items we gifted during various ceremonies and visitations included eight yaqona, western food items considered valuable in the village (as shipments take several weeks to get there), bails of cloth, laundry powder and soap, and church hymnals and Bibles” (See Meo-Sewabu, 2015).

12 Kava (Piper methysticum) is a root crop of the Pacific. In Fiji, kava or yaqona is integral to Fijian culture and is used for the ritual offerings.

13 As a result of our studies (Stewart-Withers et al., 2014a, 2014b) New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade will pilot a sports diplomacy programme ‘Rugby Max’. This is a three year, pilot project which aims to support professional and semi-professional Fijian rugby union players and their families to access contracting support, financial literacy and management training, personal development planning and business development support. The project will be delivered by the Pacific Island Players Association (PIPA) in partnership with the New Zealand Rugby Players Association, leveraging the expertise of New Zealand’s world renowned Personal Development Programme and building on the limited support currently provided to players through PIPA. The idea of the project has received much praise from Government (Fiji and NZ) and the community; both sport and Pacific people. At the time of writing the project was on the verge of commencing.

14 In recent times, greater exploration of these concepts in sport and sport management is occurring. See, for example, the Special Issue of Sport Management Review, “Managing Ethnocultural and ‘Racial’ Diversity in Sport: Obstacles and Opportunities” (Adair et al., 2010).