Tafatolu (three-sides): A Samoan research methodological framework

Abstract

A Samoan research methodological framework called Tafatolu (threesides) involves the synthesis of three key parts considered as valuable to any research – a contemporary academic approach to research, a cultural approach, and the self that represents the researcher’s perspectives and positioning within the project. The rationale behind the Tafatolu methodological framework is to provide an integration of Western and Samoan perspectives to research that incorporates the cultural values and practices of the target population, as well as of the researcher. METHOD: The researcher’s doctoral study that conceptualised, articulated, and used the Tafatolu methodological framework involved the synthesis of a contemporary academic approach to research (qualitative approach), with a cultural approach (a Samoan metaphor fetu’utu’una’i muniao – manoeuvring a fisher’s rod), merged with the researcher’s own input into doing research (positioning as an insider/outsider researcher). Specifically, the Tafatolu methodological framework guided the researcher’s study in its methodology, methods, and the analysis of data. IMPLICATIONS: The Tafatolu methodological framework proposed and discussed in this paper provides a way to integrate western and contemporary academic approaches to research, with indigenous and cultural approaches. The fusion of its underlying concepts – a contemporary academic approach, a cultural approach, and the self – can accommodate both the context of the targeted populations under review, as well as the context of the researcher.