Poetic Inquiry in Qualitative Social Science

Poetic inquiry has emerged as a robust arts-based research method within qualitative social science, harnessing the imaginative and affective power of poetry to deepen engagement with lived experience and research data. By integrating poetry as, in, or for inquiry, this approach foregrounds participant voice, reflexivity and creative expression, allowing researchers to convey nuanced emotional and sensory layers often obscured by conventional prose. Poetic inquiry encompasses a range of practices including found poetry, autoethnographic verse, ekphrastic and renga forms, and poetic transcription. Rooted in feminist and critical pedagogical traditions, it challenges mind–body dualism by mobilising embodiment and affect as central analytical resources. Globally, poetic inquiry has been applied across diverse fields such as health professions education, environmental studies, heritage research and social justice pedagogy, fostering new modes of knowledge translation and community engagement. Its practical impact spans from enriching reflexive practice among educators and clinicians to facilitating public dialogue on pressing social issues through evocative and accessible texts. The method’s flexibility supports collaborative cocreation, amplifying marginalised voices and prompting critical reflection among both researchers and participants.

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Poetic Inquiry in Qualitative Social Science publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in poetic inquiry in qualitative social science across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Poetic inquiry: An arts-based research approach that uses poetry as, within or for qualitative enquiry to foreground emotion, reflexivity and creative representation.

Found poetry: A method of creating poems by selecting and arranging language from existing texts or data sources to highlight emergent meanings and voices.

Poetic transcription: The transformation of field notes, interview transcripts or observational data into verse form to emphasise sensory, emotional and relational aspects of the phenomenon under study.

References

1. Crank up the Feminism: Poetic Inquiry as Feminist Methodology. Humanities (2018).
2. Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn: poetic inquiry within health professions education. Perspectives on Medical Education (2021).
3. Silent Footsteps: Renga Poetry as a Collaborative, Creative Research Method Reflecting on the Immobilities of Gender-Based Violence in the Covid-19 Pandemic. Cultural Studies, Critical Methodologies (2022).
4. Creating Feminist Futures by Imagining Lessons Differently: Using Speculative Fabulation and Poetic Inquiry as Methods to Trouble Classroom Expectations. Australian Feminist Studies (2023).
5. Poetry, paths, and peatlands: integrating poetic inquiry within landscape heritage research. Landscape Research (2023).