  We have carried out a photometric survey of a complete, volume-limited sample
of gamma Doradus candidates. The sample was extracted from the Hipparcos
catalog and consists of 114 stars with colors and absolute magnitudes within
the range of known gamma Doradus stars. We devoted one year of observing time
with our T12 0.8 m automatic photometric telescope to acquire nightly
observations of the complete sample of stars. From these survey observations,
we identify 37 stars with intrinsic variability of 0.002 mag or more. Of these
37 variables, eight have already been confirmed as gamma Doradus stars in our
earlier papers; we scheduled the remaining 29 variables on our T3 0.4 m
automatic telescope to acquire more intensive observations over the next two
years. We obtained complementary spectroscopic observations with the Kitt Peak
coude feed telescope. Analysis of our new photometric and spectroscopic data
reveals 15 new gamma Doradus variables (and confirms two others), eight new
delta Scuti variables (and confirms one other), and three new variables with
unresolved periodicity. Of the 114 gamma Doradus candidates in our
volume-limited sample, we find 25 stars that are new or previously-known gamma
Doradus variables. This results in an incidence of 22% for gamma Doradus
variability among candidate field stars for this volume of the solar
neighborhood. The corresponding space density of gamma Doradus stars is 0.094
stars per 10^3 pc^3 or 94 stars per 10^6 pc^3. We provide an updated list of 86
bright, confirmed, gamma Doradus field stars.

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics