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Statistics New Zealand hopes a new way of collecting information from Maori will give researchers and policy makers much better information to work from.
The agency has been running a pilot in advance of next year's major Te Kupenga survey of Maori well being, which will quiz 5000 Maori individuals about how their whanau is doing in a range of measures.
Spokesperson Atawhai Tibble says a starting point was to define what Maori mean when they say whanau – with the answers ranging from mum, dad and the kids to 500 people.
About a third of the pilot sample included close friends who are not blood relatives, indicating the diversity of modern Maori life.
The pilot study indicated the majority of participants felt their whanau was doing well.
Copyright © 2013, Uma Broadcasting Ltd
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