Before you begin collecting data for your project, reflect on the purpose of your research and how it meets the needs of Indigenous peoples. How will you advance Indigenous Data Sovereignty? Will you be incorporating Indigenous research methodologies?
Historically, a lot of data has been collected by non-Indigenous people to make decisions or draw conclusions about Indigenous people, rather than collecting the type of data Indigenous people need to make decisions. This has led to historical harms. Indigenous research methodologies and methods may be useful for your project and result in more appropriate data collection. Be mindful of only collecting data that is relevant to the project and will actually be used. Discuss with the relevant community what data should be collected and how it will be collected within Indigenous contexts.
National Indigenous Research and Knowledge Network - Research Methodologies and Methods
Seek input on decisions such as the level of aggregation/disaggregation of any data and contextual information so the data is more meaningful and/or useful. Indigenous peoples should be involved in the co-design or have a decision-making roles around elements of data collection, and how any analysis of the data will represent the interests and priorities of Indigenous peoples.
Preferencing Indigenous methods of data collection or information gathering may require flexibility, time and consultation, but can result in richer and more meaningful datasets.
Look to best practices when planning, or undertaking, data collection and analysis relating to Indigenous peoples: