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For my research I began looking at Indigenous psychology and what an Indigenous psychology is. Part of my work involves talking with Indigenous people here in Canada and also in Australia. I am interested in some of the similarities in our ways of thinking and ways of being in the world. A big part of this has been looking at people's epistemologies or how they think, and how this affects how things are in their world. Specifically, I'm looking at Indigenous graduate students and how we are able to be successful at university, but at the same time maintain our culture and maintain a strong Indigenous identity; maintain our identities as Cree people or Bundjalung people or from wherever we come. How is it possible for us to live in both worlds, and what is the thinking behind what makes it possible? This thought process is indicative of an Indigenous epistemology, which is really tied to Indigenous methodology. So how those two, epistemology and methodology, interplay with each other has been a focal point of my research.
I have looked at various research paradigms and at the differences between research paradigms and research perspectives. We now need to move beyond an "Indigenous perspective in research" to "researching from an Indigenous paradigm." Before I go any further I should define some words. To me a paradigm is simply a label for a set of beliefs that go together that guide my actions. So a research paradigm is a set of beliefs about the world and about gaining knowledge that go together to guide your actions as to how you're going to go about doing your research. When I was thinking about this, I focused on four aspects that combine in the makeup of different paradigms.
One is ontology or a belief in the nature of reality. Your way of being, what you believe is real in the world: that's your ontology. Second is epistemology, which is how you think about that reality. Next, when we talk about research methodology, we are talking about how you are going to use your ways of thinking (your epistemology) to gain more knowledge about your reality. Finally, a paradigm includes axiology, which is a set of morals or a...