A KALEIDOSCOPE MODEL - DEFINING NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS

Research on the relationship between people and nature has rarely inco rporated a definition of natural environments. This exploratory projec t was designed to uncover underlying themes which comprise conceptuali zation of natural environments. Fourteen interviews were conducted wit h adult respondents, combining a biographical section with a picture s orting exercise. Content analysis revealed a myriad of dimensions and attributes which can be organized into four meta-level themes used to categorize environments as natural or not natural. The meta-themes inc luded: (1) people as separate from nature; (2) assessment of natural e lements; (3) human impact on nature; and (4) the human place within na tural environments. Further analysis of the meta-level themes led to h ypothesis generation about possible subcategories of natural environme nts, including 'totally natural' 'civilized natural', 'semi-natural' a nd 'quasi-natural'. 'Non-natural' environments were also included in t his schema, as they define the boundary of natural environments. A kal eidoscope model is used to illustrate how nature is defined through a complex web of interrelationships. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited.