New Zealand social researchers seem seldom to theorise their own society. Themes in local concerns have focused on features such as:

• small size
• distance and remoteness (Antipodean situation)
• short historical depth
• rugged, narrow country
• particular relationship to the indigenous population (Maori)
• egalitarian, liberal perspective (often as a ‘model society’ for economic and /or welfare reforms and in international role).

Sometimes this is approached through discussion of national identity.
In terms of types of society NZ is usually seen as developed, part of the OECD grouping, Western, Christian, Anglo-American, and there is also some theorising around the notion of a settler colonial society.
A broad recent treatment is:
Miles Fairburn (2008) Is There a Good Case for New Zealand Exceptionalism? Thesis Eleven, 92(1): 29-49

“The upsurge in cultural nationalism in New Zealand has failed to produce a good case that New Zealand is an exceptional society. The reason for this is that New Zealand has not had a chance to develop a culture that is autochthonous in significant respects. New Zealand's domination by the cultures of Britain, Australia and America in the 19th and 20th centuries prevented its history from taking a significantly different path. The lack of autochthony is attributed to the structural effects of physical isolation. Remoteness made its human history unusually short, led it to be exceptionally exposed to the global revolution in transport and communication from the mid-19th century, and severely constrained its population size”.