title: The Price of Mauri: Exploring the validity of Welfare Economics when seeking to measure Mātauranga Māori

authors: Awatere, Shaun

subjects: welfare economics

abstract: Since the 1980s New Zealand has pursued neo-classical or market-based policies with a particular fervour. Market-based options are seen by resource management decision makers as essential frameworks for efficiently allocating resources, an approach that continues to support the view of the inherent dominance of Western knowledge. This is particularly concerning, given that Māori (the indigenous people of New Zealand), have an important role to play in New Zealand resource management and perceive their own knowledge systems have been marginalised. The primary goal of this thesis is to explore the validity of welfare economics when seeking to measure quantitatively Mātauranga Māori or Māori views of the environment through the contingent valuation method. A contingent valuation study is carried out using three separate samples drawn from the general Māori population in Auckland city, a hāpu/sub-tribe indigenous to the Auckland isthmus, and drivers of motor vehicles in Auckland city. Data collection modes include a postal survey and face-to-face interviews. This thesis challenges the validity of political-legal ethnicity constructs to measure Mātauranga Māori. The search for a central tendency will lead to biased, misleading and inaccurate results. The thesis also challenges the validity of contingent valuation to produce true economic measures and to measure and identify Mātauranga Māori. Despite advances in analytical techniques, economic efficiency measures are always deficient, given the difficulty of capturing and anticipating all impacts and valuing them appropriately. Mātauranga Māori is derived from a Māori epistemology and should be considered or analysed with primary reference to this body of knowledge. Economic analysis is only one important cog in the machinery of resource management policy. Given that an economist's contribution to local and regional resource management is most valuable when focusing on the  economic efficiency  of the proposed resource allocation, it is appropriate that other perspectives such as Mātauranga Māori be considered.

text: The Price of Mauri: Exploring the validity of Welfare Economics when seeking to measure Mātauranga Māori Since the 1980s New Zealand has pursued neo-classical or market-based policies with a particular fervour. Market-based options are seen by resource management decision makers as essential frameworks for efficiently allocating resources, an approach that continues to support the view of the inherent dominance of Western knowledge. This is particularly concerning, given that Māori (the indigenous people of New Zealand), have an important role to play in New Zealand resource management and perceive their own knowledge systems have been marginalised. The primary goal of this thesis is to explore the validity of welfare economics when seeking to measure quantitatively Mātauranga Māori or Māori views of the environment through the contingent valuation method. A contingent valuation study is carried out using three separate samples drawn from the general Māori population in Auckland city, a hāpu/sub-tribe indigenous to the Auckland isthmus, and drivers of motor vehicles in Auckland city. Data collection modes include a postal survey and face-to-face interviews. This thesis challenges the validity of political-legal ethnicity constructs to measure Mātauranga Māori. The search for a central tendency will lead to biased, misleading and inaccurate results. The thesis also challenges the validity of contingent valuation to produce true economic measures and to measure and identify Mātauranga Māori. Despite advances in analytical techniques, economic efficiency measures are always deficient, given the difficulty of capturing and anticipating all impacts and valuing them appropriately. Mātauranga Māori is derived from a Māori epistemology and should be considered or analysed with primary reference to this body of knowledge. Economic analysis is only one important cog in the machinery of resource management policy. Given that an economist's contribution to local and regional resource management is most valuable when focusing on the  economic efficiency  of the proposed resource allocation, it is appropriate that other perspectives such as Mātauranga Māori be considered.

year: 2008

title: Moving away from home: Some social consequences for Tūhoe migrating to the Waikato

authors: Nikora, Linda Waimarie

subjects: psychology

abstract: To better understand the social consequences of migration away from traditional iwi regions, Tūhoe researchers intensively interviewed 40 Tūhoe people who had moved to the Waikato. It was found that most missed whanau and the community and made regular visits back home. Participants reported utilizing extensive whanau links to set themselves up in the Waikato, and many joined the Tūhoe associations in the Waikato. Others who did not join reported liking the idea that Tūhoe were there if needed. Some participants felt stronger in their Tūhoe identity since moving, and most reported noticing changes occurring in themselves or those back home over this period (they felt more worldly but saw those back home as more insular). While they did not interact much with tangata whenua, or participate in tangata whenua events, many said that they had a better appreciation of the local Tainui and the Kīngitanga groups since migrating. Finally, most would like to return to their iwi region for employment if it were available but saw little chance of this happening, and most reported wanting to retire there. The policy implications of both these points are explored.

text: Moving away from home: Some social consequences for Tūhoe migrating to the Waikato To better understand the social consequences of migration away from traditional iwi regions, Tūhoe researchers intensively interviewed 40 Tūhoe people who had moved to the Waikato. It was found that most missed whanau and the community and made regular visits back home. Participants reported utilizing extensive whanau links to set themselves up in the Waikato, and many joined the Tūhoe associations in the Waikato. Others who did not join reported liking the idea that Tūhoe were there if needed. Some participants felt stronger in their Tūhoe identity since moving, and most reported noticing changes occurring in themselves or those back home over this period (they felt more worldly but saw those back home as more insular). While they did not interact much with tangata whenua, or participate in tangata whenua events, many said that they had a better appreciation of the local Tainui and the Kīngitanga groups since migrating. Finally, most would like to return to their iwi region for employment if it were available but saw little chance of this happening, and most reported wanting to retire there. The policy implications of both these points are explored.

year: 2004

title: A study of short-term remembering in the possum: Using a Delayed-Matching-To-Sample procedure

authors: Hardaker, Bethany Jane

subjects: possums

abstract: In Experiment one 7 Brushtail possums were trained, using food, to perform a Delayed-Matching-To-Sample procedure using still and flickering light stimuli, over a 0, 1 and 2 second delay.  A criterion of 80 percent correct for 5 consecutive days was set for the requirement to probe test.  Probe session delays were 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 8 seconds.  Performance was analysed using the measure of discrimination log d.  Log d = 1 at the possums training delay and dropped back to log d = 0 at the longer inexperienced delays.  The possums performance at this task was only adequate, so in case the stimuli were causing discrimination difficulties they were changed for the following experiment to horizontal and vertical light stimuli.  Experiment two used the horizontal and vertical light stimuli to further test DMTS in possums.  The possum's responding stayed at 50 percent correct, or chance, so the task was changed to a Simultaneous-Choice procedure.  However, this did not have any effect on improving their results with responding accuracy remaining at 50 percent correct.  Experiment three involved a conditional discrimination procedure, which was implemented to find out whether the possums could in fact discriminate between a horizontal and vertical light.  All the possums in this experiment reached 80 percent correct overall and at responding to either a horizontal or vertical light.  These results are enough to conclude that it was not the stimuli used in the previous two experiments which that had been causing the difficulties but the task itself.  It is not known exactly why the possums were so unsuccessful in performing a DMTS or MTS task.  More research into DMTS in possums in greatly needed and would offer a better understanding of the results of this study.

text: A study of short-term remembering in the possum: Using a Delayed-Matching-To-Sample procedure In Experiment one 7 Brushtail possums were trained, using food, to perform a Delayed-Matching-To-Sample procedure using still and flickering light stimuli, over a 0, 1 and 2 second delay.  A criterion of 80 percent correct for 5 consecutive days was set for the requirement to probe test.  Probe session delays were 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 8 seconds.  Performance was analysed using the measure of discrimination log d.  Log d = 1 at the possums training delay and dropped back to log d = 0 at the longer inexperienced delays.  The possums performance at this task was only adequate, so in case the stimuli were causing discrimination difficulties they were changed for the following experiment to horizontal and vertical light stimuli.  Experiment two used the horizontal and vertical light stimuli to further test DMTS in possums.  The possum's responding stayed at 50 percent correct, or chance, so the task was changed to a Simultaneous-Choice procedure.  However, this did not have any effect on improving their results with responding accuracy remaining at 50 percent correct.  Experiment three involved a conditional discrimination procedure, which was implemented to find out whether the possums could in fact discriminate between a horizontal and vertical light.  All the possums in this experiment reached 80 percent correct overall and at responding to either a horizontal or vertical light.  These results are enough to conclude that it was not the stimuli used in the previous two experiments which that had been causing the difficulties but the task itself.  It is not known exactly why the possums were so unsuccessful in performing a DMTS or MTS task.  More research into DMTS in possums in greatly needed and would offer a better understanding of the results of this study.

year: 2006