Doctoral Dissertation Research: Analysis of Social Dynamics in New Suburbs

美国的郊区正变得越来越多样化。尽管有这样的发展，我们对当地社区社会动态的理解是基于对城市中心的研究。该项目将研究郊区多样化对社会融合、不平等和包容性的影响。该项目将解决以下问题：不同郊区的社会动态是什么？在这样的背景下，人们如何体验和思考社会多样性，这对社会不平等有什么影响？该项目将指出不同郊区社会包容的挑战和机会，并详细说明这些空间中不平等的创造和维持方式与传统研究的城市背景不同。该项目的调查结果将为在不同的郊区环境中创建和维护包容性空间和机构提供最有用的政策和实践。该项目调查居民对不同郊区的多样性的理解，以及由这些理解产生的社区动态。对多元化郊区居民的深入访谈将评估日常经历如何塑造对多样性的理解，以及这些个人理解如何创造社区层面的对话、规范和政治安排，从而影响郊区社会不平等的程度。该项目对三个背景进行了定性分析：一个社会多样化的郊区；一个多样化的城市社区；以及一个位于多样化郊区附近的非多元化郊区社区。实地考察工作将主要集中在多样化的郊区，并将包括几个战略。该项目将对不同样本的成年居民进行大约115次深入访谈，以评估居民对多样性和社会不平等的体验和理解。此外，对地方政府、学区和政治官员的采访将阐明地方政府和学区如何解决多样性问题。该项目还包含了对这个地点两年来的政治活动、政府活动和公共生活的民族志观察。为了评估这些发现，该项目将采访另外两个地点的另外50名居民。评估这些地点的居民在多样性和城市/郊区划分方面的差异如何理解多样性，将使人们能够比较了解在不同的郊区背景下存在的社会动态。该项目将在MAXQDA中使用归纳迭代编码来分析数据。该项目的发现将为有关群体间关系、城市/郊区居住和社会不平等动态的社会学理论提供信息。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Suburban areas in the United States are becoming increasingly diverse. Despite this development, our understandings of social dynamics in local communities are based on research in urban centers. This project will examine the implications of diversifying suburbs for social integration, inequality, and inclusion. The project will address the following questions: What are the social dynamics in diverse suburbs? How do people in such contexts experience and think about social diversity, and what implications does this have for social inequality? This project will point to both challenges and opportunities of social inclusion in diverse suburbs and detail the ways in which inequality creation and maintenance occur differently in these spaces than in traditionally-studied urban contexts. Findings from the project will suggest what policies and practices will be most useful in creating and maintaining inclusive spaces and institutions in diverse suburban settings.The project investigates residents' understandings of diversity in a diverse suburb and the community dynamics that result from these understandings. In-depth interviews with residents of a diverse suburb will assess how everyday experiences shape understandings of diversity and how, in turn, these individual understandings create community-level conversations, norms, and political arrangements that affect the extent to which suburbs are characterized by social inequality. The project uses qualitative analysis of three contexts: a socially diverse suburb; a diverse urban community; and a non-diverse suburban community located proximate to the diverse suburb. Fieldwork will substantially focus on the diverse suburb and will include several strategies. The project will conduct approximately 115 in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of adult residents to gauge residents' experiences with and understandings of diversity and social inequality. In addition, interviews with local government, school district, and political officials will illuminate how diversity is addressed by local governments and school districts. The project also incorporates ethnographic observation of political campaigns, government events, and public life over a period of two years at this site. To evaluate these findings, the project will interview an additional 50 residents of the two additional sites. Assessing how residents of these sites that vary in both diversity and urban/suburban designation understand diversity will permit comparative understanding of the social dynamics present in diverse, suburban contexts. The project will analyze the data using inductive, iterative coding in MAXQDA. Findings from the project will inform sociological theories regarding inter-group relations, urban/suburban residence, and the dynamics of social inequality.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.