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

建议的博士论文研究集中在志愿消防部门(VFD)。更广泛的理论动机涉及社会阶级、种族、性别和志愿主义如何相互作用来塑造志愿组织及其成员的经历。我们将收集和分析关于志愿人员及其成员的组织结构以及消防对志愿者及其家人的影响的数据。研究设计的第一部分将使用问卷数据来评估VFD的人口构成。这些信息提供了确定志愿消防员队伍的同质化程度以及志愿消防员和他们保护的社区之间的人口统计异同的手段。第二部分使用访谈数据来说明VFD参与的细节和模式。消防员面试将集中在动机、奖励、官方和社会活动以及危险和风险问题上。志愿消防员的配偶提供信息，介绍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VFD参与需求的机制。以前关于VFD的研究主要集中在个别消防员和/或农村VFD。研究结果将有助于VFD研究的社会结构维度，扩大研究范围，包括消防员的家庭，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.