So what makes studies like these different from ordinary research?
那么这样的研究和寻常研究有什么不同呢？
Let's look at some of the general principles behind ethnographic research in business.
我们来看看商务领域的人种学研究背后的一些普遍原理。
First of all, the researcher has to be completely open-minded
首先，研究人员必须绝对虚心，
he or she hasn't thought up a hypothesis to be tested, as is the case in other types of research.
他们不能像在其他类型的研究中那样事先想出一个假设，然后测试它的真实性。
Instead they wait for the participants in the research to inform them.
相反地，他们要等参与者自己展现出需要的信息。
As far as choosing the participants themselves is concerned, that's not really all that different from ordinary research
至于对参与者的选择，这和寻常研究并没有多少区别，
the criteria according to which the participants are chosen may be something as simple as the age bracket they fall into,
参与者入选的标准也许只是一些很简单的事情，
or the researchers may select them according to their income,
比如他们的年龄组或者收入，
or they might try to find a set of people who all use a particular product, for example.
再或者研究人员也许会试着找到一群全都使用同一种特定产品的人。
But it's absolutely crucial to recruit the right people as participants.
但是征募到正确的人选作为参与者至关重要。
As well as the criteria I've mentioned, they have to be comfortable talking about themselves and being watched as they go about their activities.
除了我提到的标准之外，他们还必须对谈论自己的情况和有人观察他们做自己的事情不会感到不便。
Actually, most researchers say that people open up pretty easily, maybe because they're often in their own home or workplace.
事实上，大部分研究人员都说人们很容易对他们打开心扉，也许这是因为这些通常都是在他们自己家里或者单位进行的。
So what makes this type of research special is that it's not just a matter of sending a questionnaire to the participants,
这种研究与众不同之处就在于它不只是给参与者发一份调查问卷而已，
instead the research is usually based on first-hand observation of what they are doing at the time.
而是通常根据对参与者当时做的事情进行的亲身观察来展开研究。
But that doesn't mean that the researcher never talks to the participants.
但这并不是说研究人员从不跟这些参与者交谈。
However, unlike in traditional research, in this case it's the participant rather than the researchers who decides what direction the interview will follow.
不过，和传统的研究不同的是，在这种研究中，决定采访走向的并不是研究人员，而是参与者。
This means that there's less likelihood of the researcher imposing his or her own ideas on the participant.
也就是说，研究人员把自己的想法强加到参与者身上的可能性要小一些。
But after they've said goodbye to their participants and got back to their office, the researchers' work isn't finished.
但是在告别了参与者回到办公室之后，研究人员的工作还没有结束。
Most researchers estimate that 70 to 80 percent of their time is spent not on the collecting of data but on its analysis
据大部分研究人员估计，他们百分之七十到八十的时间都花在了分析这些数据而不是收集它们上，
looking at photos, listening to recordings and transcribing them and so on.
他们要仔细看照片、听录音并转录它们等等。
The researchers may end up with hundreds of pages of notes.
研究人员最终可能会整理出数百页的笔记。
And to determine what's significant, they don't focus on the sensational things or the unusual things,
为了判定出重要的信息，他们不会把注意力集中在非同一般或者不寻常的事情上，
instead they try to identify a pattern of some sort in all this data, and to discern the meaning behind it.
而是试图辨认出所有数据中共同存在的某种模式，然后识别其背后的意义。
This can result in some compelling insights that can in turn feed back to the whole design process.
这一举动可能会带来一些引人注目的见解，而这些见解反过来能够反馈给整个设计流程。