Skip to main content

Poetry as Data

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Doing Poetic Inquiry

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture ((PASCC))

  • 692 Accesses

Abstract

This section outlines how poetry can be employed and analysed. At times, participants might provide a poem to the researcher as a way to help others understand their experiences. Whilst there are many examples of poetry, there are not many examples of poetry as data and the different ways this could manifest itself in Poetic Inquiry. I draw from research which considers how poetry could be a way to engage participants about a particular research topic. Examples are employed from poetry which have been provided by participants in my research. More commonly, it seems, poetry as data has been employed by researchers as auto-ethno poetry which is discussed towards the end of this chapter with examples from research I have conducted in women’s boxing.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allen-Collinson, J. (2009). Sporting embodiment sports studies and the (continuous) promise of phenomenology. Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise, 1(3), 239–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen-Collinson, J., & Hockey, J. (2001). Runners’ tales: Autoethnography, injury and narrative. Auto/Biography, 9(1&2), 95–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, E., & Willis, K. (2014). “Hope is that fiery feeling”: Using poetry as data to explore the meanings of hope for young people. In Forum qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative social research (Vol. 15, No. 1). Available http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2013/3631. Accessed 10 Apr 17.

  • Blinne, K. C. (2010). Writing my life: A narrative and poetic-based autoethnography. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 23(3), 183–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drummond, D. K. (2017). The decision: A creative autoethnographic account with poetry. Health Communication, 1–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckersley, R., Cahill, H., Wierenga, A., & Wyn, J. (2007). Generations in dialogue about the future: The hopes and fears of young Australians. Canberra: Australia 21 Ltd. Melbourne: Australian Youth Research Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furman, R. (2004). Using poetry and narrative as qualitative data: Exploring a father’s cancer through poetry. Families, Systems, and Health, 22(2), 162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furman, R. (2006). Autoethnographic poems and narrative reflections: A qualitative study on the death of a companion animal. Journal of Family Social Work, 9(4), 23–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furman, R. (2007). Poetry and narrative as qualitative data: Explorations into existential theory. Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, 7(1), 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gammel, I. (2012). Lacing up the gloves: Women, boxing and modernity. Cultural and Social History, 9(3), 369–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, S. W. (2002). Medical student elegies: The poetics of caring. Journal of Medical Humanities, 23(2), 119–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, T. (2003). The truth about stories: A native narrative. Toronto: House of Anansi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leder, D. (2001). Lived Body: A tale of two bodies: the Cartesian Corpse and the Lived Body. In D. Welton (Ed.). Body and Flesh: A Philosophical Reader (pp.117–129). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Machado, S. (2016). Faggot speaks: A poetic inquiry into the experiences of antigay mistreatment and sexual prejudice. Art/Research International: A Transdisciplinary Journal, 1(1), 65–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maurino, J. P. (2016). Transformations of the self: A narrative and poetic based autoethnography. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 29(4), 207–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Phenomenology of perception. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ngunjiri, F. W., Hernandez, K. A. C., & Chang, H. (2010). Living autoethnography: Connecting life and research. Journal of Research Practice, 6(1), 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owton, H. (2012). Streams of bereavement. Qualitative Inquiry, 20, 1–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owton, H. (2015) ‘Reinventing the body-self: Intense, gendered and heightened sensorial experiences of women's boxing embodiment’, in A. Channon, and C. Matthews (Eds.). Global Perspectives on women in combat sport: Women Warriors around the world (pp. 221–236). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. IBSN 978-1-137-43935-2

    Google Scholar 

  • Owton, H. (2016). A qualitative case study of sexual abuse in sport (p. 109). Basingstoke: Palgrave Publishers. IBSN: 978-3319467955.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owton, H., & Allen-Collinson, J. (2017). Athlete domestic violence: Contaminating acts and the violation of self-boundaries. In A. Milner & J. H. Braddock II (Eds.), Women in sports: Breaking barriers, facing obstacles. IBSN: 1-4408-5124-7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owton, H., & Sparkes, A. (2017). Sexual abuse and the grooming process in sport: Bella’s story. Sport, Education and Society. Available http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13573322.2015.1063484.

  • Piirto, J. (2002). The question of quality and qualifications: Writing inferior poems as qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 15(4), 431–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prendergast, M. (2009). Introduction: The phenomena of poetry in research: “Poem is what?” Poetic inquiry in qualitative social science research. In M. Prendergast, C. Leggo and P. Sameshima (Eds.). Poetic Inquiry: Vibrant voices in the social sciences (pp. 13–29). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers

    Google Scholar 

  • Prendergast, M., Leggo, C., & Samashima, P. (Eds.). (2009). Poetic inquiry: Vibrant voices in the social sciences. Rotterdam, NL: Sense.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, J. (2004). Can poetry be data? Potential relationships between poetry and research. Families, Systems, and Health, 22(2), 171–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, J., & Stein, H. (2005). Poetic license: Writing poetry as a way for medical students to examine their professional relational systems. Families, Systems, & Health, 23(3), 278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wacquant, L. J. (1995). Pugs at work: Bodily capital and bodily labour among professional boxers. Body & society, 1(1), 65–93.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Helen Owton .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Owton, H. (2017). Poetry as Data. In: Doing Poetic Inquiry. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64577-3_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics