First Nations Community Well-Being Research and Large Data Sets: A Respectful Caution

Abstract

Health researchers are increasingly encouraged to use large, community-level data sets to examine factors that promote or diminish health, including social determinants. First Nations people in Canada experience disparity in a range of social determinants of health that result in relatively low community well-being scores, when compared to non-First Nations people. However, First Nations people also possess unique protective factors that enhance well-being, such as traditional language usage. Large data sets offer First Nations a new avenue for advocating for supports and services to decrease health inequity while developing culture-based evidence. However, care must be taken to ensure that these data are interpreted appropriately. In this paper, we respectfully offer a cautionary note on the importance of understanding culture and context when conducting First Nations health research with large data sets. We have framed this caution through a narrative presentation of a simple and concrete example. We then outline some approaches to research that can ensure appropriate development of research questions and interpretation of research findings.

Predictors of Land-Based Activity Participation in a National Representative Sample of Indigenous Individuals Living Off-Reserve

“…It remains difficult to quantitatively interpret relationships between predictors of engagement in landbased activities and subsequent health outcomes in a way that is authentic to Indigenous ways of knowing and community-based values in population-level datasets. For example, previous analysis of community wellbeing data and language use demonstrated that increased language use was associated with decreased Community Wellbeing Index (CWI) scores, comprising education, income, housing, and engagement in the labor force; however, these results were likely confounded by the geographical location of communities [50]. Furthermore, land-based knowledge and engagement may vary significantly by community due to the varying extent to which the reserve system interrupts access to land that was historically accessed.…”

Indigenous Language Knowledge and Educational Attainment Among First Nations People: Trends Over Time

“…Hull (2015), for instance, found that the gap in postsecondary education attainment between speakers and non-speakers of Indigenous languages were largest in rural areas and smallest in urban areas. Drawson, Mushquash, and Mushquash (2017) have also demonstrated that the negative relationship between the proportion of people in a community speaking an Indigenous language and a community's socio-economic conditions was non-significant once remoteness was accounted for, pointing to the importance of place of residence. Guèvremont and Kohen (2017b) have shown the importance of characteristics such as ever having attended school on a reserve, parental education, and family residential school attendance in the associations between Indigenous language knowledge and high school completion.…”

“…This study examined the relationship between Indigenous language knowledge and educational attainment using large data sets (i.e., Statistics Canada's Census and National Household Survey); while being nationally representative, these data sets contain broad socioeconomic indicators that are highly de-contextualized (Drawson et al, 2017) and this not only calls for replication but also refinements using qualitative as well as other methods. Furthermore, the current analytic lens plots together knowledge of traditional Indigenous languages with a "Western" concept-highest level of formal education attained (Drawson et al, 2017). Future research could examine outcomes that are more oriented towards Indigenous ways of knowing.…”

Measuring What Counts to Advance Indigenous Self-Determination: A Case Study of the Nisg̱a’a Lisims Government’s Quality of Life Framework and Survey

“…These may also be quite complex, if not impossible, to report and monitor through conventional statistical instruments. As argued by Drawson, Mushquash, & Mushquash, “data analytic methods may lack the sophistication to account for complex relationships between variables” (Drawson et al 2017 :22). Given the limitations of the existing data collected by federal departments and agencies, developing indicators exclusively based on quantitative measures may be ineffectual on a longitudinal scale to describe well-being.…”

“…As such, strictly qualitative research has not often been employed to look at the impacts of modern treaties on Indigenous well-being. 6 In contrast, mixed quantitative-qualitative designs provide the standardization of a quantitative approach with the interpretative benefits of qualitative design, which can lead “to both credible, generalizable findings and accurate measurement of phenomena” (Drawson et al 2017 :21). We suggest such an approach is beneficial when engaging with Indigenous ways of knowing to develop “relevant, reciprocal, respectful, and responsible research” (Peltier 2018 :1) by, with, and for Indigenous peoples (Kolahdooz et al 2015 ; Levac et al 2018 ).…”