Skip to main content

Table 3 Observational categories

From: Have adults lost their sense of play? An observational study of the social dynamics of physical (in)activity in German and Hawaiian leisure settings

Primary observational categories

Explanation

Physical activity level of group

Observed physical activity behaviour of all members of a group. We recorded all observed aspects concerning physical activity and inactivity. Furthermore, we differentiated between ‘very active’/‘moderately active’/‘rather passive, sometimes in the water, with a maximum of two short active exceptions’/and ‘extremely passive’.

Research setting

Champagne Pond or Entringen Pool

Gender composition of group

Male only/female only/mixed

Combination of group concerning age

Concerning age, we differentiated between ‘children’/‘adolescents’/‘young adulthood’/‘middle adulthood’/and ‘seniors’.

Combination of group concerning body shape

Concerning body shape, we differentiated between ‘lean, normal-weight, and slightly overweight’/‘clearly overweight’/and ‘athletic’.

Group size

In this category, we differentiated between small groups including two or three members/middle size including four or five members/large groups including six or more.

Additional equipment

We observed whether groups had equipment such as chairs, sun loungers, barbecues, cooling boxes, sunshades, etc. or not.

Communication level within group

We observed the verbal communication of group members, e.g. loud or quiet. Moreover, we differentiated between frequent and lively verbal communication between most group members/occasional verbal communication/almost no verbal communication among group members.

Food and drinking behaviour

We recorded whether groups brought food and drinks to the sites.

Secondary observational categories

Explanation

Design of resting site

We observed, how groups organised their resting site, for example how they arranged their equipment, how they furnished their site etc.

Figurations

We observed in-/out-group constellations, age combinations at the site and group compositional changes.

Social contagion

In this context, we looked at the spread of activity within groups and between groups.

Area of rest and movement

We observed where members of groups spent the majority of their time resting and the other areas they moved to.

Promoting physical activity

We used this category for coding all factors which appeared to promote physical activity.

Hindering physical activity

We used this category for coding all factors which hindered physical activity.