I have this pet peeve, people throwing around the word "research" like it means nothing. I constantly hear people saying, "I did some research on this or on that," when really all they mean is "I googled it." When people tell me they've researched something, I'm so tempted to say back, "Really? Are you sure you didn't just glean that from Wikipedia?" (P.S. I love Wikipedia)
Now that I know what research actually is I don't throw that word around anymore. Spending hours pouring over a stack of books about whatever searching for answers. I've done this many times till my eyes and brain hurt. My sister also does research in a laboratory constantly doing experiment after experiment trying to find the results she wants. These are examples of research.
So the next time you're tempted to throw around the word "research," ask yourself, did you really research it, or did you just google it?
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Words and their meanings are fundamentally democratic--if enough people understand a word to connote a certain concept, lexicographers are kind of bound to agree with them. The Merriam-Webster people acknowledge the meaning you dislike as their third definition of "research". They agree with you that it's not the most central meaning of the word, but they acknowledge that people use it in this way. Fortunately, there are linguistic ways to make a distinction between rigorous research and casual or haphazard research.
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