Here's a function for this use case:
function getFormData($form){
var unindexed_array = $form.serializeArray();
var indexed_array = {};
$.map(unindexed_array, function(n, i){
indexed_array[n['name']] = n['value'];
});
return indexed_array;
}
Usage:
var $form = $("#form_data");
var data = getFormData($form);