Conducting the Field Research 221 Conducting the Field Research Roberta could hardly believe they had completed half the interviews already. Earlier today, they'd flown to Toronto after an exhausting 2 days visiting customers in San Francisco. To her delight things had gone quite well. Joanne was a natural at this sort of work, but even Dimitri found his groove on the second day. The first day was bit rough for Dimitri, as he tended to influence participants with his comments and questions, so Greg had needed to explain. "When the woman this morning demonstrated her FTP system, you interrupted at one point with a comment like, `That seems ridiculous! Why would you do it that way?' I'm not sure you noticed, but she seemed kind of embarrassed. It took a while for her to open up again." "I suppose it seemed like I was accusing her. I wasn't, of course!" Dimitri loudly insisted. "I was just annoyed at the stupid system she was forced to work with." In the end, because he was so outspoken, Dimitri found it easiest to remain mostly silent, recording notes and snapping photos when appropriate.