The 1,000-Page Question

Abstract

This article takes issue with a question sometimes heard at workshops on interview research: "How shall I find a method to analyze the 1,000 pages of interview transcripts I have collected?" Rather than merely dismiss the question as one posed too late and leading in unproductive directions or attempt to answer the question directly, the article seeks to bring into the open the empiristic presuppositions about qualitative research implied by the question. The question is itself treated as a text to be analyzed. Seven critical key terms are selected for interpretation: how, have, method, analyze, 1,000 pages, transcripts, and collected. The interpretation focuses on both what is said and what is not said in the question, as well as what could have been said to lead interview analyses in more constructive directions. Finally, the present interpretation of the question is discussed as an example of qualitative analysis.