This groundbreaking book brings creative writing to social research. Its innovative format includes creatively written contributions by researchers from a range of disciplines, modelling the techniques outlined by the authors. The book is user-friendly and shows readers: * How to write creatively as a social researcher; * How creative writing can help researchers to work with participants and generate data; * How researchers can use creative writing to analyse data and communicate findings. Inviting beginners and more experienced researchers to explore new ways of writing, this book introduces readers to creatively written research in a variety of formats including plays and poems, videos and comics. It not only gives social researchers permission, but also shows them how, to write creatively.

“A fantastic book, a polyvocal story and a guide to creative practice with great examples and exercises. Once I started, I couldn't put it down! Essential reading for all social researchers and research methods students.” Maggie O'Neill, University College Cork

“My dog-eared and scribbled-upon copy of Creative Writing for Social Research: A Practical Guide sits within reach of my desk. I am beginning my creative writing adventure and fully anticipate its condition will worsen considerably as I progress through my research project.” Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work

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.