Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Heroes of Suburbia Consideration of Social Class, Race, Gender and Community in Suburban Volunteer Fire Departments

本次博士论文的研究方向是志愿消防部门（vfd）。更广泛的理论动机涉及社会阶级、种族、性别和自愿主义如何相互作用，以塑造志愿组织及其成员的经历。我们将收集和分析有关志愿消防员的组织结构、成员以及消防对志愿者及其家庭的影响的数据。研究设计的第一个组成部分将采用问卷数据来评估vfd的人口组成。这些信息为确定志愿消防员队伍内部的同质性程度以及志愿消防员与他们所保护的社区之间的人口统计学相似性和差异性提供了手段。第二个部分使用访谈数据来阐明VFD参与的细节和模式。对消防员的采访将集中在动机、奖励、官方和社会活动以及危险和风险问题上。志愿消防人员的配偶提供了有关志愿消防对婚姻和家庭生活的积极和消极影响以及用于应对志愿消防人员参与要求的机制的信息。先前的vfd研究主要集中在个体消防员和/或农村vfd身上。研究结果将为VFD研究提供一个社会结构维度，将研究扩展到消防员的家庭，并将注意力转移到VFD重要存在的郊区环境。

The proposed doctoral dissertation research focuses on volunteer fire departments (VFDs). The broader theoretical motivation involves questions of how social class, race, gender and voluntarism interact to shape the voluntary organizations and the experiences of their members. We will gather and analyze data on the organizational structures of VFDs, their members, and the effects of firefighting on volunteers and their families. The first component of the research design will employ questionnaire data to assess the demographic composition of VFDs. This information provides the means to determine the degree of homogeneity within the VFD ranks and the demographic similarities and differences between volunteer firefighters and the communities they protect. The second component uses interview data to illuminate the details and patterns of VFD participation. Firefighter interviews will focus on motivations, rewards, official and social activities and issues of danger and risk. Spouses of volunteer firefighters provide information on the positive and negative effects of volunteer firefighting on marriage and family life and the mechanisms used to cope with the demands of VFD participation. Prior research on VFDs has focused primarily on the individual firefighters and/or rural VFDs. The research findings will contribute a social structural dimension to VFD research, extending research to include the families of firefighters and shifting attention to suburban settings where VFDs are an important presence.