Naomi Quinn (in Ryan and Bernard, 2003) has analyzed hundreds of hours of interviews to discover concepts underlying American marriage and to show how these concepts are tied together. She began by looking at patterns of speech and at the repetition of key words and phrases, paying particular attention to informants' use of metaphors and the commonalities in their reasoning about marriage. Nan, one of her informants, says that "marriage is a manufactured product." This popular metaphor indicates that Nan sees marriages as something that has properties, like strength and staying power, and as something that requires work to produce. Some marriages are "put together well," while others "fall apart" like so many cars or toys or washing machines.