Doctoral Dissertation Research: Analysis of Social Dynamics in New Suburbs

New York University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

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.