Lincoln University Digital Dissertation - Lincoln University Research ...

Literature review
Collection of relevant literature prior to, during, and post field research was
essential for the research. A literature review allowed the research to focus
more clearly on relevant and pertinent issues, providing ‘building blocks’ from
which new ideas could be constructed from themes that emerged during the
field research.
Field research
The field work component of this research was conducted during a period of
two weeks, in the North Island of New Zealand. Initially this involved an
introductory meeting with taewa growers associated with Tahuri Whenua
which coincided with a predetermined collective hui. This introductory meeting
was an important part of the KMR approach which emphasises the
importance of ‘face-to-face’ introductions. It was not the intention of this initial
meeting to result in significant investigation but rather to present a ‘face’ to the
research.
Field research was conducted primarily via semi-structured interviews; with
observations and secondary data collection used to enhance the findings.
Semi-structured interviews were chosen as the principle method for field
research in an attempt to gather rich qualitative data. The interviews were
semi-structured to provide flexibility and allow for situation adjustments. This
meant that the interviews were loosely structured around a list of open-ended
questions, allowing for a degree of structure, thus making sure the key
questions are appropriately addressed. The informal, conversational style of
the interviews ensured that the participants were not pressured or intimidated
as may be the case with structured questionnaires. The interviews were held
at the growers’ homes or at an alternatively convenient (for the grower)
location within the community. The length of the interviews varied in time
depending on the situation (e.g. time availability, flow of information) from half,
to one and a half hours. A general set of questions and prompts were
carefully arranged to ensure that key topics were addressed while not
dictating the flow of information (see Appendix 2). Information gathered via
dialogue was additionally supported by observations.
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