Spradley (in Ryan and Bernard, 2003) recorded conversations among tramps at informal gatherings, meals, card games, and bull sessions. As the men talked to each other about their experiences, there were many references to making a flop. Spradley combed through his recorded material and notes looking for verbatim statements made by informants about his topic. On analyzing the statements, he found that most of the statements could fit into subcategories such as kinds of flops, ways to make flops, ways to make your own flop, kinds of people who bother you when you flop, ways to make a bed, and kinds of beds. Spradley then returned to his informants and sought additional information from them on each of the subcategories.