Abstract
The challenges of working in longitudinal research are explored in this paper on Māori ethnicity. Government definitions used to classify Māori have changed from race-based criteria to self-identified ethnicity questions. Little is known about how these changes have affected the way that Māori choose to identify as Māori. This paper explores changes in the collection of race and ethnicity information over a 32 year period in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, which began in 1972/73. These changes at the Study have reflected changes in race and ethnicity data collection in the national census. In general, preliminary findings from the Study show that the number of participants who identify as Māori has increased over time. In recent years, the Study has collected self-identified ethnicity information and enabled Study members to report multiple ethnicities. In this birth cohort, we found that between age 26 and age 32 there was a relatively high level of stability in individual self-reported Māori ethnicity. However, a small number of Study members who reported Māori ethnicity at age 26 did not do so at age 32. These results are being investigated further. In the Dunedin Study there are proportionately fewer Māori than in the general population. However, this study has a high retention rate, indicating that Māori continue to participate over time. As Māori researchers, we are interested in exploring how this study and similar studies can be used to address social science and health-related issues facing Māori now and in the future.