Doctoral Dissertation Research: Discourses About Wildfire in New Jersey and New South Wales

在过去的半个世纪里，美国和澳大利亚经历了城市-荒地界面作为一种新的景观类型的出现。城市-荒地的界面由一些居民区侵占了森林和其他“荒地”的区域组成。在这些地区，越来越多的人受到大火的威胁，2003年南加州和堪培拉附近的大火威胁了数千名居民。公众的合作对于火灾管理至关重要，因为清理灌木丛和更换屋顶材料等活动必须在私人财产上进行。然而，在消防政策应该追求的目标上，存在着实质性的分歧，尤其是在基本问题上：是否应该牺牲生态系统来改善人类安全？这个博士论文研究项目将调查公众如何看待野火，他们对风险的看法，以及这些观点对野火管理的影响。博士候选人将测试有影响力的“风险文化理论”，该理论认为，人们使用的社会互动的基本形式导致在所有环境管理争议中出现相同的四个基本观点。该项目将重点关注两个案例研究区域——新泽西州南部的松林地带和澳大利亚悉尼的远郊——城市-荒地交界地带的居民。这些都是相对容易发生火灾的地区，人口增长迅速，但美国和澳大利亚对火灾的看法却截然不同。这两个案例将允许学生进行跨文化比较，调查相同的观点是否主导了两个地区的公共辩论。为了探讨这些问题，学生将使用Q法和邮件调查。Q是一种方法，允许参与者通过对一组40-60张卡片进行分类来构建他们的世界观。多个人的Q分类结果可以用因子分析软件进行比较，以确定不同的思想流派。在两个研究地点的四个城镇中，每个城镇大约有10到15个人（产生80到120人的总样本）将完成Q排序。为了将Q的结果扩大到更大的样本，将在每个案例研究区域随机抽取400名居民进行调查。该调查还将调查人口和社会因素的影响，如在该地区居住的时间长短和参与社区活动的数量，对人们对野火的看法。这项研究将帮助研究人员了解对一个问题的不同看法是如何产生的，在关于野火管理的辩论中，主要的问题是什么，以及美国和澳大利亚之间的公众观点是否存在重大差异。它将检验一般理论（尤其是“风险文化理论”），这些理论预测了一套突出的世界观将主导环境管理的辩论。这项研究还将通过帮助城市-荒地界面的居民和消防管理官员了解彼此的观点，直接有助于制定野火政策。有了这些知识，它们将能够更好地选择在促进人类安全和保护环境方面可取和有效的管理技术。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。

Over the past half-century, the United States and Australia have experienced the emergence of the urban-wildland interface as a new landscape type. The urban-wildland interface consists of areas where residential settlement has encroached on forests and other "wild" lands. Increasing numbers of people are at risk from major fires in these zones, as evidenced by major fires that threatened thousands of residents in southern California and near Canberra in 2003. Cooperation from the public is essential to fire management because of the importance of activities like clearing brush and changing roofing materials that must be done on private property. Substantial disagreement reigns regarding the goals that fire policy should pursue, however, especially with respect to the basic question: Should ecosystems be sacrificed to improve human safety? This doctoral dissertation research project will investigate how members of the public think about wildfire, their perceptions of the risk, and the implications of those views for wildfire management. The doctoral candidate will test the influential "cultural theory of risk," which holds that the basic form of social interaction used by people leads the same four basic perspectives to arise in all environmental management controversies. This project will focus on residents in urban-wildland interface zones in two case study areas, the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey and the outer suburbs of Sydney, Australia. These are comparably fire-prone regions experiencing rapid settlement growth, but the U.S. and Australia have had very different histories of thinking about fire. The two cases will allow the student to make cross-cultural comparisons, investigating whether the same perspectives dominate the public debate in both locations. To explore these issues, the student will use the Q method and a mail survey. Q is a method that allows the participant to construct a representation of their worldview by sorting a set of 40-60 cards bearing statements about an issue. The results of multiple people's Q sorts can be compared using factor analysis software to identify distinct schools of thought. Approximately 10 to 15 individuals in each of four towns in each of the two study sites (yielding a total sample of 80 to 120 people) will complete Q sorts. A survey will be sent to a random sample of 400 residents in each of the case study areas in order to broaden the results of the Q to a larger sample. The survey also will investigate the effect of demographic and social factors, such as length of residence in the area and amount of involvement in community activities, on people's views of wildfire.This study will help researchers understand how conflicting views of an issue arise, what the major questions at stake in the debate over wildfire management are, and whether there are important differences in public views between the U.S. and Australia. It will test general theories (particularly the "cultural theory of risk") that predict a certain set of salient worldviews will dominate environmental management debates. This research also will contribute directly to shaping wildfire policy by helping residents of the urban-wildland interface and fire-management officials understand each other's viewpoints. With this knowledge, they will be better able to select management techniques that will be desirable and effective in promoting human safety and protecting the environment. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.