April 30, 2013
Hard data to underpin Waipareira plans
Te Whanau ō Waipareira is counting on getting high quality research from Massey University to underpin future programmes.
The West Auckland social services trust yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with the office of the university’s assistant vice chancellor.
Te Kani Kingi, the Director of Massey’s Te Mata ō Te Tau Academy for Māori Research and Scholarship, says the university will be able to help Waipareira staff shape the raw data they are getting from their programmes and turn it into knowledge.
He says too many organisations, not just Māori ones, make decisions based on faith and intuition rather than real world observation and analysis.
“Sometimes we assume things about Māori populations, how it’s composed and what their desires and aspirations are. They may be quite removed from what Māori actually believe but I think we have a role there to play and would be happy to be guided by Waipareira in terms of information they believe they need to better plan for the future and to meet their broader goals and aspirations,” he says.
Te Kani Kingi says the university is looking forward to conducting long term studies with Waipareira.
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