4.1 Project Description

The project objectives determine the nature of this research project. In order to make comparisons with the findings of earlier work in the body of research similar data needed to be gathered. As the only research in this area to have been done in New Zealand, Kuglin’s study on the information seeking behaviour of genealogists provides the most relevant and current template on which to base a Māori focused study though some deviation was required in order to tailor this study with respect to specific Māori cultural factors, drawing on the work of Parker (2003), Hemara (2006) and Szekely (1997). The basic format of Kuglin’s study was adopted with a cross-sectional quantitative survey approach but one which focused on a much smaller population. This strategy was also considered suitable in that time limitations would not allow for a longitudinal approach.

The population that is the focus of the project is smaller than in Kuglin’s study because the percentage of New Zealanders who identify as Māori is 14.7% of the total population, according to statistics gathered during the 2001 census by Statistics New Zealand (2002) (pg. 11). Kuglin’s research gathered data from any genealogists regardless of their specific area of interest or ethnicity. This being the case, it was considered necessary to cast a wider net to capture data than was utilised in Kuglin’s study. For this reason the study had a broader geographical focus. In addition, with regards to the survey instrument, where other research indicated, or researcher experience suggested that additional or modified questions should be used or other adjustments made, these were incorporated into the study.
A pilot study was employed to check the feasibility of the questionnaire used and that individual questions were acceptable. After the revised questionnaire (Appendix 2) was distributed and the data was collected, the analysis phase began which involved grouping, and collating data into sets to provide a comparison to the data collected in Kuglin’s research. In some cases exact correlations were not possible as modifications to Kuglin’s original questionnaire were made but comparable results should be possible in areas such as the creation of a researcher “profile” and in identifying levels of use of specific resources.

In the last phase of the study the analysed data, along with the researcher’s own public library experience, and other literature in the field was used to formulate a series of recommendations. These recommendations take the form of key actions or processes that public libraries can take to improve their service to whakapapa researchers.