Fictive Reality

Abstract

As qualitative researchers, we often wrestle with the intricacies of ontological and epistemological frameworks, the complexities of collection and analysis methods, and the difficulties associated with the dissemination cycle. Positing direct challenges to the paradigms underlying the practice of our craft is something we do rather rarely, but it is something we must do nonetheless in order to advance our field in a fundamental fashion. In this article, we argue for an expanded understanding of what constitute data, posit the need to shift away from examining the “found” world exclusively, and assert that researchers not only create their reality, but their data as well. We illustrate our point by presenting our arguments in alternatively rhyming iambic pentameter, which—as poetry is itself intrinsically a creative enterprise—reflexively positions both our text and ourselves as data to be examined, analyzed, and understood.