Coding Manual for the Hong Kong Study of Child-Nature Interaction Patterns: Dominating and Relational Behaviors

Abstract

This technical report provides our coding manual – our systematic method to code the qualitative data – for coding the observational data of a study of children playing in a Hong Kong nature program. In this study, we used an Interaction Pattern Approach to model child-nature interaction, and then used the model to test two hypotheses that bear on differential affordances of landscape. Interaction patterns refer to structural characterizations of ontogenetically and phylogenetically meaningful human-nature interaction. Fifty-four children participated in the study. Observational data were collected using a random time sampling methodology to record (in 5-minute segments) videos of children (mean age 4.8 years) during play in nature. This method yielded approximately 37 hours of video data which were formally coded for children’s interaction patterns. In addition, where each interaction occurred, the landscape was coded as either relatively wild or relatively domestic. A total of 708 interactions were coded, and categorized based on 37 distinct interaction patterns, such as gathering forest items and immersing one’s body in water. Based on this modeling, we then tested two hypotheses: (1) that in the more domesticated nature areas, children would engage in more domination interaction patterns (e.g., killing insects, catching wild animals), and (2) in the more wild nature areas, children would engage in more relational interaction patterns (e.g., cohabitating with wild animals, using water to find respite in nature). Both hypotheses were supported statistically. The modeling results extend interaction pattern theory, showing its applicability in a cross-cultural setting.