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THE COMPARISON OF QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE
APPROACHES FOR MEASURING TRADITIONAL FOOD SHARING IN
COMMUNITIES ON THE NORTH SLOPE OF ALASKA
By
Marcy M. Okada

RECOMMENDED: _____________________________________
Dr. Peter Fix

_____________________________________
Dr. Michael Koskey

_____________________________________
Dr. Shauna BurnSilver

_____________________________________
Dr. Gary Kofinas
Advisory Committee Chair

_____________________________________
Dr. Joshua Greenberg
Chair, Department of Resources Management

APPROVED: __________________________________________________
Dr. Carol Lewis
Dean, School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences

__________________________________________________
Dr. Lawrence Duffy
Dean of the Graduate School

__________________________________________________
Date
THE COMPARISON OF QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE APPROACHES
FOR MEASURING TRADITIONAL FOOD SHARING IN COMMUNITIES ON THE
NORTH SLOPE OF ALASKA

A
THESIS

Presented to the Faculty
of the University of Alaska Fairbanks

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE

By

Marcy M. Okada, B.S.

Fairbanks, Alaska

August 2010
iii
ABSTRACT
The primary objective is to compare the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative
and quantitative approaches for measuring food sharing in Alaskan North Slope
communities. Traditional food sharing is nested within the subsistence livelihood and the
measurement of subsistence harvests should include how harvests are shared and
distributed. Information on traditional food sharing in the communities of Wainwright
and Kaktovik on the North Slope of Alaska was collected through semi-structured
interviews and participant observation, and in turn analyzed using ATLAS.ti, a
qualitative data analysis software program. Quantitative data was provided by the Survey
of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA) study. Chi-square significance tests, as well
as a two-step cluster analysis were conducted using SPSS (Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences), in order to characterize household types receiving traditional foods.
Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were compared in their ability to measure
the system of food sharing, food sharing changes, food sharing as a social indicator of
community well-being, and the resilience of traditional food sharing within Alaskan
North Slope communities. Ultimately, this information will be used to improve future
studies, which focus on measuring the social patterns of traditional food sharing and
changes in food sharing within the subsistence system.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Signature Page.....................................................................................................................i
Title Page............................................................................................................................ii
Abstract..............................................................................................................................iii
Table of Contents...............................................................................................................iv
List of Figures....................................................................................................................xi
List of Tables....................................................................................................................xii
List of Appendices...........................................................................................................xiii
Acknowledgements..........................................................................................................xiv
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Thesis Purpose..................................................................................................1
1.2 Thesis Objectives..............................................................................................2
1.3 The Research Problem......................................................................................3
1.3.1 Capturing the Concept of Subsistence.............................................4
1.3.1.1 Competing Views of Subsistence.......................................5
1.3.1.2 More Than Pounds of Meat and Fish Harvested................7
1.4 Alternative Research Approaches – Determining the Best Method...............10
1.4.1 Qualitative Analyses......................................................................11
1.4.2 Quantitative Research....................................................................12
1.4.3 Comparison of the Two Approaches.............................................13
1.5 Organization of the Thesis...............................................................................14
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Chapter 2 Theory and Method
2.1 Introduction...................................................................................................17
2.2. Definitions of Food Sharing Terms..............................................................17
2.2.1 Demand Sharing............................................................................18
2.2.2 General Reciprocity.......................................................................19
2.2.3 Balanced Reciprocity.....................................................................20
2.2.3.1 Shares.................................................................................21
2.2.4 Delayed Reciprocity......................................................................23
2.2.4.1 Delayed Reciprocity Example: Ceremonial Sharing........24
2.2.5 Negative Reciprocity.....................................................................26
2.3 Why Share? Explanatory Theories of Food Sharing....................................26
2.3.1 Survival...........................................................................................27
2.3.2 Kinship Links.................................................................................28
2.3.3. Social Cohesion.............................................................................29
2.3.4 Prestige and Public Esteem.............................................................30
2.4 Linking Subsistence Sharing to Resilience Theory.......................................32
2.4.1 Sharing as a Measure of Resilience................................................32
2.4.1.1 Social-Ecological Resilience in the Context of the North
Slope Subsistence Sharing System...............................................33
2.4.2 Vulnerability...................................................................................37
2.4.2.1 Future Oil and Gas Development Effects on
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Vulnerability..................................................................................39
2.4.2.2 Future Climate Change Effects on Vulnerability............41
2.4.3 Adaptive Capacity..........................................................................43
2.4.4 Sustainability..................................................................................44
2.4.5 Transformability.............................................................................44
2.5 Study Methods: Overview............................................................................46
2.5.1 Qualitative Approach......................................................................46
2.5.2 Quantitative Approach....................................................................46
2.5.3 A Comparison between the Two Approaches................................47
2.6 Conclusion.....................................................................................................47
Chapter 3 Study Regions and Communities
3.1 Introduction....................................................................................................49
3.2 Northwest Arctic and Bering Strait Regions..................................................49
3.3 North Slope History and the Iñupiat...............................................................50
3.4 Native Corporations and the North Slope Borough........................................55
3.5 The Wage and Subsistence Economies..........................................................56
3.6 Subsistence Livelihood...................................................................................60
3.7 Study Communities........................................................................................61
3.7.1 The Village of Wainwright/Ulġuniq/..............................................61

3.7.2 History of Wainwright...................................................................62

3.7.3 Current Day Wainwright...............................................................65
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3.7.4 The Mixed Economy in Wainwright.............................................66

3.7.5 The Village of Kaktovik/Qaaktuġvik/...........................................69

3.7.6 History of Kaktovik.......................................................................70

3.7.7 Current Day Kaktovik....................................................................72

3.7.8 The Mixed Economy in Kaktovik.................................................73

3.8 Conclusion...................................................................................................76

Chapter 4 Qualitative Approach

4.1 Chapter Objective...........................................................................................78

4.2 Method............................................................................................................78

4.3 Results............................................................................................................83

4.3.1 Why People Share..........................................................................84

4.3.1.1 Maintaining a Cultural Tradition......................................85

4.3.1.2 Avoiding Waste...............................................................89

4.3.1.3 Benefiting from Good Luck.............................................90

4.3.1.4 Providing a Good Feeling.................................................91

4.3.1.5 Giving and Taking (Balanced Reciprocity)......................93

4.3.1.6 Forming a Relationship with Animals..............................95

4.3.1.7 Remembering Hard Times................................................96

4.3.1.8 Having Pride.....................................................................97

4.3.2 Factors Which Contribute to When People Share.........................98

4.3.2.1 Sharing Before the Hunt...................................................99
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4.3.2.2 Bartering and Trading......................................................102

4.3.2.3 Sharing at Feasts, Community Events, Social

Gatherings....................................................................................106

4.3.2.4 Sharing with Other Communities....................................108

4.3.2.5 Sharing when Extra Food is Available...........................112

4.3.2.6 Sharing when Food is Requested (Demand Sharing).....113

4.3.2.7 Funeral Services.............................................................114

4.3.3 With Whom do People Share?.....................................................115

4.3.3.1 Elders...............................................................................116

4.3.3.2 Relatives..........................................................................117

4.3.3.3 Sharing with the Needy...................................................118

4.3.3.4 Widows/Widowers..........................................................120

4.3.3.5 Sharing with the Sick or Infirm.......................................120

4.3.4 Species Specific Types of Sharing..............................................121

4.3.4.1 Caribou............................................................................122

4.3.4.2 Fish..................................................................................124

4.3.4.3 Bowhead Whale...............................................................124

4.3.4.4 Waterfowl........................................................................126

4.3.4.5 Walrus..............................................................................127

4.3.4.6 Bearded Seals..................................................................127

4.3.4.7 Beluga Whale...................................................................128
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4.3.5 How People Share........................................................................129

4.3.5.1 Having Guests Over for a Meal.......................................129

4.3.5.2 Anonymous Food Drop-offs............................................130

4.3.6 Changes in Food Sharing.............................................................131

4.3.7 Flexibility in Food Sharing Rules................................................134

4.4 Discussion.....................................................................................................135

4.4.1 Overall Information Generalizations...........................................136

4.4.2 Limits to Generalizations.............................................................137

4.4.3 Contributions of the Qualitative Approach to an Understanding of

Sharing.....................................................................................................138

Chapter 5 Quantitative Approaches

5.1 Purpose of Chapter.......................................................................................139

5.2 Study Design and Methodology of the SLiCA Survey................................139

5.3 Method of Analysis......................................................................................142

5.4 Operationalizing the Variables.....................................................................146

5.4.1 Dependent Variables....................................................................147

5.4.2. Independent Variables.................................................................149

5.5 Chi-Square Significance Tests......................................................................155

5.6 Two-step Cluster Analysis............................................................................157

5.6.1 Rationale for Using a Two –Step Cluster Analysis.....................157

5.6.2 Two-step Cluster Assumptions....................................................158
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5.6.3 Results of Cluster Analysis..........................................................159

5.6.4 Discussion of Cluster Analysis Results.......................................166

5.7 Quantitative Approach Discussion...............................................................169

Chapter 6 Comparing Two Approaches

6.1 Objectives of Chapter...................................................................................173

6.2 The Comparison of Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches.....................175

6.2.1 The System of Food Sharing......................................................176

6.2.2 Traditional Food Sharing Changes over Time.............................179

6.2.3 Ability to Measure Food Sharing as a Social Indicator of

Community Well-being...........................................................................181

6.2.4 Resilience of Traditional Food Sharing.......................................183

6.2.4.1 Food Sharing as an Indicator of Resilience.....................184

6.3 Are Both Approaches Needed to Measure Traditional Food Sharing?........187
6.3.1 The Use of a Mixed Methods Approach.....................................................188
6.4 Conclusion....................................................................................................190
Literature Cited....................................................................................................192

Appendices..........................................................................................................203