What does it truly mean to do 'research' in today's time?

Research does mean a lot of things to different people, depending on their field and what sector they're working in, but I believe research is based on a grounding principle of trying to answer a question of interest that is important to either you or to society.

Research to me, in the biomedical sciences, is a quest to understand how the body works and what happens in particular diseased states. I spent most of my research career trying to answer specific biological pathways contributing to metabolic diseases...this included a TON of reading to understand what is known, coming up with an important question that would contribute to the current knowledge base, and designing and executing experiments that will lead to answering that question.

In an academic world, my research would have focused on really understanding the ins and outs of that particular biological pathway. In an industry world, the research question is framed a little differently to not only understand the biological pathway but also to assess whether that pathway would be a safe and efficacious target for a therapeutic.

Hope this helps!

Rushi,

I understand your confusion and uncertainty when you hear people talk of research, and hope my answer is helpful. Research does not have a text book definition, or a set of uniformly designated practices. The scope and extent varies depending on the subject one chooses to study. That being said, there are certain key components in all types of research:
1. It is an elaborate study of a specific aspect of a subject matter
2. The starting point is a question or hypothesis about this specific aspect. One then goes about finding supplementary evidence that is already known or available pertaining to this question, e.g. looking at information that is available through literature search. This will help determine if the question can be pursued more elaborately
3. Research does not always have to end up with a positive outcome - for e.g. if the hypothesis is "will "X" solve the energy crisis, the research outcome can be a "yes" or a "no"
4. From a scientific perspective, research again does not mean doing hours and hours of experiments in the lab routinely without trying to understand the basis of it
5. When you are engaged in research, you should learn to seek out information, observe, and interpret it your own way
6. More importantly, it is not an activity for a few months, or if and when one can afford the time
7. Many scientific research questions are influenced by other additional resources - the lab, its funding, the principal investigator's research interests etc. - so sometimes you may tailor yours accordingly
8. In order to be pursuing research, you should develop critical thinking by reading/learning about topics that are of interest to you.

I am not sure what field of study you are in currently, but I would suggest that you start off by observing what others in your field are doing when they say "research". If any of those activities interest you, try to gather more information about it, or how it is being done elsewhere. Then, develop your own thoughts and ideas about it, and reach out to an appropriate mentor in your college/university for further discussion.

Research, from my personal experience is highly fulfilling regardless of the outcome, and one needs to develop a flair for it. Once you do that, you will enjoy it.

Good luck with your pursuits.

Research in a certain field is the exploration of hypotheses or questions that are of interest to experts using a combination of field work (gathering real data) and data analysis (statistics, data science, simulation).

Hi Rushi!

Every field of study particularly in sciences do research whether medicine,biological sciences,engineering or even journalism so that you can draw your own conclusion from the result of the research whether there is a positive or negative outcome. Not all research would result in a good or positive outcome. But by doing research, you can make good decisions through the evidence you have gathered or read on the research.
For example in the healthcare field, healthcare professionals use current evidence to determine clinical decision making or treatment decisions.In medicine, doctors also use current evidences to determine their treatment decisions based on the data and results in the medical journal/literature. You can also do research in your particular field of study so that you can draw your own conclusion and ultimately guide your own decision.

I hope this answer your question and good luck on your future endeavor!