Embedding a sociological imagination in social work research: Using textual vignettes to explore practice

Taking an example from mental health social work, this paper discusses how textual vignettes—short, fictional narratives—support data collection and analysis of practice. It is argued textual vignettes, henceforth referred to simply as vignettes, are an effective method of data elicitation that can prompt participants to respond to, and think beyond, the scenarios. The paper draws on primary research that investigated how social workers understand the impact of the social determinants of mental health on people’s lives. The paper discusses how C. Wright Mills’ (1959) concept of the sociological imagination can inform how vignettes are written, enable data elicitation, and provide a lens for the analysis of practice. The use of vignettes in social work research is reviewed and guidance on writing them provided. The paper highlights how embedding contextual elements is a particular affordance of the method. In evaluating the use of vignettes, verbatim quotations from the primary study illustrate the richness of the data collected (Lomax, 2024). Using vignettes enabled participants to think beyond the short stories and this supported an exploration of social workers’ sociologically imaginative understandings of practice. Fook (2019) has argued that the sociological imagination can support critical reflective social work practice. The use of vignettes in this study to prompt social workers to access that imagination is discussed. The paper concludes that vignettes, embedded within semi-structured interviews, offer a valuable and practical tool for qualitative social work researchers. The method is likely to be useful in a wide range of research settings.