What makes research 'research'?

Over the past month or two, I've talked to several recent college graduates from the US who have been awarded some type of fellowship or job to come to China next year. They have contacted me with a series of questions about what it is like to do research here. I've tried to do the best I can to answer their questions based on my experience(s). China is a large place and, while many patterns of research challenges can be similar, it is difficult to know what to expect. I am glad I can be of help to people who are coming to China or tackling social science research for the first time. But the truth is, I often question if I am doing research the right way (assuming there is a 'right way').

What exactly counts as research? What makes research 'research'? I feel like so much of my time is spent wandering around, talking to random people, trying to figure out what it is I want to get from interacting with them. Sometimes I ask irrelevant questions, hoping to strike an interesting topic with them. Other times I have my camera with me and I ask to take some pictures of what they are doing. I explain that I am a researcher and I want to understand northeast rice. The camera helps to open doors of communication. When I need to fall back on something, I have a large, carefully worded dissertation proposal to remind me what I want to get out of my research. But that proposal says nothing about how I will actually find the right people to talk to or what I will say to them.

I think so much of my time is spent trying to figure out how exactly to carry out the things I say I will do that once I actually do them, they are quite easy. So the wandering and the randomness are about me testing the types of questions I think might be useful to me. Its trial and error about what is an appropriate way to approach someone or how to phrase a certain question. Once I figure out what works, I can get things more efficient. And then by the time I ask those questions, more questions come to me.

This is how I feel right now. I hope this trend continues for the remainder of my time here. Even on days when I feel like I haven't done much 'research,' I still talk to people, take note of what they (and I) say, and think about the next steps.