It was acknowledged, too, that in order to remain coherent and not distort findings through the research process, an authentic research framework would be necessary. Building on the work of other scholars in the region, the team approached their work using the Kakala Research Framework. In this approach, the kakala, a traditional garland, is used as a metaphor for the inquiry process, with different elements of the garland providing rich local meaning to guide different aspects of the research methodology. In addition, the team incorporated Tongan ethical principles into the research design, and detailed culturally-relevant data collection techniques such as talanoa and nofo - local approaches to oral and narrative inquiry.