Tuning in to young children’s peer-to-peer interactions when engaging with digital technologies: developing a fit-for-purpose framework

Abstract

Capturing the subtle and nuanced behaviours of very young children to honour their ‘voice’ in research is an ongoing methodological challenge. This paper details the evolution of a framework developed by the researchers in response to understanding the peer-to-peer relationshipss of infants and toddlers when engaging with digital technologies in an Australian Research Council-funded project. The framework and how it was applied is presented along with ethical and methodological considerations when researching alongside very young children. The benefits of the time-consuming process of developing a robust coding framework pays off when applied to observational data. We propose that building a fit-for-purpose framework, informed by research literature and modified iteratively through application, provided us with a way to assuredly represent the children’s social behaviours and emotional communication with each other as authentically as possible.