Poetry in Qualitative Research

Poetry in qualitative inquiry refers to the use of poetry written by participants and/or by researchers themselves through all stages of research. For example, scholars in the field known as ethnopoetics have studied verbal arts from around the world, transcribing poetic traditions and analyzing texts and performances, particularly those borne among Indigenous communities. Other poetic scholarship draws on elements of poetic craft such as meter, rhyme, form, image, and metaphor as interpretive tools for analyzing qualitative data, for example, thinking through provocative metaphors and similes to describe a piece of discourse or observed event. Perhaps the most overtly poetic activity qualitative researchers engage in is their own written poetry based on experiences during data collection and analysis. Qualitative inquirers are more likely now than ever before to find research about poetry and/or research that includes data poems in scholarly journals and books. Poetry offers scholars a means to say what might not otherwise be said, creating a more engaging and passionate form of social science.

Despite a long tradition of figurative language and poetic representation in all types of scientific research to express novelty, such as the clockwork metaphor for the solar system and the pump metaphor for the heart, qualitative researchers in general and ethnographers in particular have been the most avid and publicly reflexive about using poetry and other expressive forms in research. However, despite many qualitative researchers who are advocates and public users of poetic research methods, there is still very little written about how this approach takes place and the specific techniques used by poet-researchers. Scholarship that merges qualitative inquiry with poetry is still emerging, and there are many questions regarding poetic craft and its applications and use as researchers develop theories and heuristics for qualitative understanding. What possibilities does poetry offer for data collection, analysis, and presentation, and what impact might poetic scholarship have on the public and political community at large?