Creative Writing for Social Research

Richard Phillips is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Sheffield. He is a specialist in creative and arts-led research methodologies, which he practises in his own work and encourages students to try in the field trips he leads in cities from Liverpool to New York. Richard's books include Georges Perec's Geographies (2019), Fieldwork for Human Geography (2012), Sex, Politics and Empire (1996), and Mapping Men and Empire: A Geography of Adventure (1997). Helen Kara has been an independent researcher since 1999 and specialises in research methods and ethics. She is the author of Creative Research Methods: A Practical Guide (Policy Press, 2nd ed. 2020) and Research Ethics in the Real World: Euro-Western and Indigenous Perspectives (Policy Press, 2018). Helen is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Chapter One: Introduction
Definitions
Synergies: Between Creative Writing and Social Research
What Follows
Chapter Two: Doing Creative Writing
Introduction
Doing It Yourself: Getting Started
Putting Yourself in the Picture
Observation and Description
Stories and Storying
Writing about Ideas: Essays and Lists
Doing It Yourself: Following Through
Chapter Three: Doing Research, Generating Data, Working with Participants
Introduction
Getting Started: Participatory Creative Writing for Social Research
Workshops and Groups
Working with Individuals
Data and findings: Process and Product
Chapter Four: Exploring and Articulating Findings
Introduction
Data Analysis Dissemination
Finding and Telling Stories: Storying
Chapter 5: Searching and Queer(ing) Writing
Searching
Queer(ing) Writing