title: Uputaua: A therapeutic approach to researching Samoan communities.

authors: Seiuli, Byron Malaela Sotiata

subjects: Pacific research

abstract: The predicted future growth of the Pasifika population in New Zealand renders attention to the ongoing development of culturally sensitive approaches to health research, particularly those that are therapeutically anchored. This article discusses the Uputaua Approach; a contextualised contribution into the reservoir of theorizing on Samoan and Pasefika research perspectives. The Uputaua Approach seeks to make important connection with Samoa cultural concepts, as a process of tautua (service) to Samoan people everywhere.

text: Uputaua: A therapeutic approach to researching Samoan communities. The predicted future growth of the Pasifika population in New Zealand renders attention to the ongoing development of culturally sensitive approaches to health research, particularly those that are therapeutically anchored. This article discusses the Uputaua Approach; a contextualised contribution into the reservoir of theorizing on Samoan and Pasefika research perspectives. The Uputaua Approach seeks to make important connection with Samoa cultural concepts, as a process of tautua (service) to Samoan people everywhere.

year: 2012

title: Work attitudes and well-being among virtual workers

authors: Witzel, Marisa

subjects: virtual work

abstract: The present study examined how certain characteristics of flexible work, the home environment, and the individual impact the outcomes of work-family conflict, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and psychological strain.  
	A questionnaire measuring perceptions of control, flexibility, job involvement, family involvement, work to family and family to work conflict, organisational commitment, job satisfaction, family support, physical boundaries, workplace isolation, psychological strain, personality, and demographic information was created and posted online.  An email was circulated to 390 virtual sales employees from one large organisation in the United States inviting them to participate in the study, and 278 people responded.  
Results identified characteristics of the type of work, work enivronment, and the individual that are predictive of individual and organisational outcomes. Findings supported hypotheses that control, flexibility, and family support positively impact the outcomes of conflict, satisfaction, and strain for virtual workers.  Job involvement was found as predicted to positively impact work to family conflict, and family involvement was positively related to family to work conflict.  Contrary to predictions, a negative relationship was found between job involvement and strain, suggesting that those who identify more highly with their job also 
experience less strain. Consistent with earlier studies, workplace isolation was associated with reduced job satisfaction and organisational commitment (Marshall, Michaels, and Mulki, 2007). In line with boundary theory (Voydanoff, 2005), it was hypothesised that the presence of physical boundaries between work and non work domains would significantly impact measures of conflict and strain for virtual workers. However, results indicated no significant effects.
A comparison of perceptions of work-family conflict between individuals with children at home and those without illustrated no significant differences between employees with children at home and those without.  Speculated explanations for inconsistent findings are addressed in the discussion chapter.
	Work to family conflict was predicted to mediate the relationship between flexibility and job satisfaction for virtual workers, and analysis supported the presence of partial mediation.  Family to work conflict was also predicted to mediate the flexibility and job satisfaction relationship, however, results were not significant in this case.  Uses of workspace (i.e. for work, leisure, family activities, etc.) were tested as mediator for the relationship between family to work conflict and job satisfaction, and results did not support a mediation effect.  
	In sum, findings of this study identify sources of both positive and negative outcomes for people working from home.  Although individuals' experiences working virtually differ greatly, this study identifies common  
challenges and issues they face.  By pinpointing the sources of conflict, satisfaction, commitment, and strain in the home office, organisations and individuals can take steps to protect workers against negative outcomes, and maximise positive outcomes.  Implications and limitations of this study are discussed in the final chapter.

text: Work attitudes and well-being among virtual workers The present study examined how certain characteristics of flexible work, the home environment, and the individual impact the outcomes of work-family conflict, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and psychological strain.  
	A questionnaire measuring perceptions of control, flexibility, job involvement, family involvement, work to family and family to work conflict, organisational commitment, job satisfaction, family support, physical boundaries, workplace isolation, psychological strain, personality, and demographic information was created and posted online.  An email was circulated to 390 virtual sales employees from one large organisation in the United States inviting them to participate in the study, and 278 people responded.  
Results identified characteristics of the type of work, work enivronment, and the individual that are predictive of individual and organisational outcomes. Findings supported hypotheses that control, flexibility, and family support positively impact the outcomes of conflict, satisfaction, and strain for virtual workers.  Job involvement was found as predicted to positively impact work to family conflict, and family involvement was positively related to family to work conflict.  Contrary to predictions, a negative relationship was found between job involvement and strain, suggesting that those who identify more highly with their job also 
experience less strain. Consistent with earlier studies, workplace isolation was associated with reduced job satisfaction and organisational commitment (Marshall, Michaels, and Mulki, 2007). In line with boundary theory (Voydanoff, 2005), it was hypothesised that the presence of physical boundaries between work and non work domains would significantly impact measures of conflict and strain for virtual workers. However, results indicated no significant effects.
A comparison of perceptions of work-family conflict between individuals with children at home and those without illustrated no significant differences between employees with children at home and those without.  Speculated explanations for inconsistent findings are addressed in the discussion chapter.
	Work to family conflict was predicted to mediate the relationship between flexibility and job satisfaction for virtual workers, and analysis supported the presence of partial mediation.  Family to work conflict was also predicted to mediate the flexibility and job satisfaction relationship, however, results were not significant in this case.  Uses of workspace (i.e. for work, leisure, family activities, etc.) were tested as mediator for the relationship between family to work conflict and job satisfaction, and results did not support a mediation effect.  
	In sum, findings of this study identify sources of both positive and negative outcomes for people working from home.  Although individuals' experiences working virtually differ greatly, this study identifies common  
challenges and issues they face.  By pinpointing the sources of conflict, satisfaction, commitment, and strain in the home office, organisations and individuals can take steps to protect workers against negative outcomes, and maximise positive outcomes.  Implications and limitations of this study are discussed in the final chapter.

year: 2008

title: Upsetting Geographies: Sacred Spaces of Matata

authors: Brown, Keri Aroha Michelle

subjects: sacred

abstract: My research focuses on the emotional experience of the unearthing of ancestral bones for local Māori of Matata. The coastal town of Matata in the Eastern Bay of Plenty provides a central case study location as it is a town that is facing the pressure of coastal residential development as well the added strain of dealing with the 2005 flood which has compounded issues over local waahi tapu.  Local iwi have continued to actively advocate for the protection of these sites especially with regard to the ongoing discovery of ancestral bones.

Cultural and emotional geographies provide the theoretical framework for this research. This framework has been particularly useful as it encourages reflexive commentary and alternative ways of approaching and thinking about, and understanding knowledge. I have incorporated the research paradigm of kaupapa Māori which complements my theoretical framework by producing a research design that is organised and shaped according to tikanga Māori while (in) advertently critiquing and challenging traditional ways of conducting research. The overall aim is to explore the current issues surrounding the discovery of ancestral bones through korero with local iwi members. It is through their perspectives, stories, beliefs and opinions that provide a better understanding of the meanings attributed to waahi tapu and the influence of certain events such as the 2005 flood. I examine, critically the relationship between power, sacred sites, bones and the body. 

It is from these objectives that I contribute to an area of scholarship that has been largely left out from geographical enquiry. I suggest that the importance of sacredness and spirituality has been relatively overlooked as an influential factor in people's perceptions of the world around them. This thesis is intended to demonstrate the value of indigenous perspectives of bones, the body and sacredness as a way of better understanding some of the complexities that can arise when cross-cultural approaches collide in environmental planning.  

There are three main themes that have emerged from this research. The first theme has to do with competing knowledges. To Māori, the location and knowledge of ancestral bones is culturally important and is in its self sacred, therefore certain tikanga is applied as a means of a protection mechanism. However this ideologically clashes with traditional scientific western approaches which are privileged over other alternative ways of understanding knowledge, in this case Māori knowledge. The second related theme concerns the process of boundary making and cross-cultural ways of perceiving 'sacred' and 'everyday' spaces. To better understand these perspectives involves acknowledging the embodied and emotional experience of wāhi tapu to Māori, and the active role of kaitiaki in the protection and careful management of these culturally important spaces.

text: Upsetting Geographies: Sacred Spaces of Matata My research focuses on the emotional experience of the unearthing of ancestral bones for local Māori of Matata. The coastal town of Matata in the Eastern Bay of Plenty provides a central case study location as it is a town that is facing the pressure of coastal residential development as well the added strain of dealing with the 2005 flood which has compounded issues over local waahi tapu.  Local iwi have continued to actively advocate for the protection of these sites especially with regard to the ongoing discovery of ancestral bones.

Cultural and emotional geographies provide the theoretical framework for this research. This framework has been particularly useful as it encourages reflexive commentary and alternative ways of approaching and thinking about, and understanding knowledge. I have incorporated the research paradigm of kaupapa Māori which complements my theoretical framework by producing a research design that is organised and shaped according to tikanga Māori while (in) advertently critiquing and challenging traditional ways of conducting research. The overall aim is to explore the current issues surrounding the discovery of ancestral bones through korero with local iwi members. It is through their perspectives, stories, beliefs and opinions that provide a better understanding of the meanings attributed to waahi tapu and the influence of certain events such as the 2005 flood. I examine, critically the relationship between power, sacred sites, bones and the body. 

It is from these objectives that I contribute to an area of scholarship that has been largely left out from geographical enquiry. I suggest that the importance of sacredness and spirituality has been relatively overlooked as an influential factor in people's perceptions of the world around them. This thesis is intended to demonstrate the value of indigenous perspectives of bones, the body and sacredness as a way of better understanding some of the complexities that can arise when cross-cultural approaches collide in environmental planning.  

There are three main themes that have emerged from this research. The first theme has to do with competing knowledges. To Māori, the location and knowledge of ancestral bones is culturally important and is in its self sacred, therefore certain tikanga is applied as a means of a protection mechanism. However this ideologically clashes with traditional scientific western approaches which are privileged over other alternative ways of understanding knowledge, in this case Māori knowledge. The second related theme concerns the process of boundary making and cross-cultural ways of perceiving 'sacred' and 'everyday' spaces. To better understand these perspectives involves acknowledging the embodied and emotional experience of wāhi tapu to Māori, and the active role of kaitiaki in the protection and careful management of these culturally important spaces.

year: 2008