Research
You will find a complete range of our monographs, muti-authored and edited works including peer-reviewed, original scholarly research across the social sciences and aligned disciplines. We publish long and short form research and you can browse the complete Bristol University Press and Policy Press archive of over 1,500 titles.
Policy Press also publishes policy reviews and polemic work which aim to challenge policy and practice in certain fields. These books have a practitioner in mind and are practical, accessible in style, as well as being academically sound and referenced.
This chapter provides practical guidance on how researchers who wish to bring fiction into their work can get started. It explores the implications of decisions about who creates fictions (whether this is the researcher themselves, research participants, commissioned authors or artists, or some combination of these). The chapter also offers suggestions on how to create an atmosphere (for oneself, colleagues or participants) which is conducive to creativity. Finally, building on many of the examples shared throughout this book as well as literary works, it presents creative writing prompts (tailored to research-fiction) which will support readers to create their own work.
This book introduces readers to the many ways in which fiction can inform, inspire and enliven all kinds of research. Fiction - in the form of oral tales, short stories, novels, dramatic performances, films and comics - can be powerful and resonant. Fictional stories can evoke emotion and empathy, portray subtle social complexities, transport audiences into radically different worldviews, and are (arguably) often more engaging and accessible than traditional research reports. Presenting a range of case studies from diverse disciplines, this book explores how researchers have employed fiction and fictional techniques throughout the research process, including using fiction to create research data and to communicate research findings. A range of theoretical perspectives on the use of fiction in research are discussed, alongside ethical questions and practical advice, creative prompts and resources, enabling readers to reflect on how fiction might speak to their own research and to embark on their own research-based fiction projects.
This chapter raises some ‘difficult questions’ which researchers considering combining research and fiction might ask themselves. It focuses on some of the challenges raised by the use of fiction, specifically highlighting that fiction may not be right for all research projects, and exploring whether and how the quality of research-fiction can be evaluated (in terms of its quality as research, as fiction, or as something else). This chapter also considers questions about how research-fictions can be presented and framed to potential audiences, including how and where research-fictions may be published. Finally, it reviews some of the potential ethical issues raised by bringing fiction and research together.
This chapter showcases how a range of researchers in diverse disciplines have used fiction in their work. It describes how researchers have used fiction: (1) to ‘think with’; (2) to create data with participants; and (3) as means of communicating their research to wider audiences, but also notes that these ways of combining research and fiction are not mutually exclusive. A range of examples and case studies are presented, showing how these aims can be realised in many ways, sometimes resulting in publishable or publicly performed works of fiction, sometimes generating fictional stories for analysis, and spanning a range of formats and genres, including science fiction and speculative fiction, realistic fiction, stories for young adults, novels, short stories, comics, role-play activities and theatrical productions.
Discover how fiction can breathe life into your research.
Fiction – in the form of everyday storytelling, prose, plays, films, folktales, and comics – can be powerful and resonant. This engaging book introduces the ways in which fiction can inform, inspire and enliven all kinds of research.
Presenting a range of case studies and examples from diverse disciplines, this book explores how and why researchers have employed fiction and fictional techniques throughout the research process, including using fiction to communicate research findings. An essential primer to thinking creatively with fiction, the book:
• discusses a range of theoretical perspectives on the use of fiction in research;
• explores challenges and ethical questions for researchers using fiction;
• offers practical advice, creative prompts and resources.
Enabling the reader to reflect on how fiction might be used in their own research, this comprehensive introduction will help students and experienced researchers embark on their own research-based fiction projects in no time.
This book introduces readers to the many ways in which fiction can inform, inspire and enliven all kinds of research. Fiction - in the form of oral tales, short stories, novels, dramatic performances, films and comics - can be powerful and resonant. Fictional stories can evoke emotion and empathy, portray subtle social complexities, transport audiences into radically different worldviews, and are (arguably) often more engaging and accessible than traditional research reports. Presenting a range of case studies from diverse disciplines, this book explores how researchers have employed fiction and fictional techniques throughout the research process, including using fiction to create research data and to communicate research findings. A range of theoretical perspectives on the use of fiction in research are discussed, alongside ethical questions and practical advice, creative prompts and resources, enabling readers to reflect on how fiction might speak to their own research and to embark on their own research-based fiction projects.
This chapter explores various routes through which research-fictions can be shared, including conventional publication, self-publication and performance. It considers the pros and cons of these different routes, including implications for the reach and accessibility of the works. Some potential publishers of research-fiction are listed. Readers are prompted to consider whether new fora for research-fiction would be desirable in their particular research context or discipline.
This chapter explores three recurring rationales for combining research and fiction across various disciplines: (1) an understanding that stories are fundamental to human experience; (2) the use of fiction in order to more fully and fairly represent human experience (sometimes problematising notions of truth or authority); and (3) the use of fiction to imagine situations and ideas which cannot be readily accessed through empirical data, or to speculate about alternative or future possibilities. The chapter considers the theoretical underpinnings of these different rationales and argues that researchers’ rationales for using fiction are closely tied to their ontological and epistemological positioning.
This book introduces readers to the many ways in which fiction can inform, inspire and enliven all kinds of research. Fiction - in the form of oral tales, short stories, novels, dramatic performances, films and comics - can be powerful and resonant. Fictional stories can evoke emotion and empathy, portray subtle social complexities, transport audiences into radically different worldviews, and are (arguably) often more engaging and accessible than traditional research reports. Presenting a range of case studies from diverse disciplines, this book explores how researchers have employed fiction and fictional techniques throughout the research process, including using fiction to create research data and to communicate research findings. A range of theoretical perspectives on the use of fiction in research are discussed, alongside ethical questions and practical advice, creative prompts and resources, enabling readers to reflect on how fiction might speak to their own research and to embark on their own research-based fiction projects.
This chapter traces the parallels between the aims and practices of both researchers and fiction writers and on this basis establishes the potential benefits of combining the two. It discusses the works of some well-known researchers from both science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and humanities backgrounds who have also produced fiction. The chapter outlines how the use of fiction in research can refer to ‘fictionalisation’ (adding invented details to empirical data), ‘fictional thinking’ (asking ‘what if?’ questions) and/or ‘works of fiction’ (such as short stories, novels or plays). The chapter introduces the definition of fiction used throughout the book and highlights some core components shared by many works of fiction. Finally, it outlines the book’s structure, which is loosely based on the archetypal ‘hero’s journey’.
