Are you a research scientist?

No, I am not.

@Steve_A Fluther seems to have let you down. You’re not getting real answer here, that’s a shame. I am the daughter of of physical chemist and a chemist turned mathematician/statistician. I was raised, essentially, by a pair of human reference books, :) so I do have a little bid of the “research” in my blood. Though my parents were both Ph.D.s I only got as far as an M.A. (A B.A. in Anthropology and an M.A. in Radio-T.V.-Film) but anyway, I just feel sorry for your question, but being a reasonably educated person raised by scientists doesn’t make me a researcher but does make me capable of doing some casual research. Anyway, like I said, I kind of felt sorry for your question. I don’t know why no one other than me has answered it.

I am a graduate student in the sciences, and my primary job is to do research. So, yes.

What field/research is it? Neuroscience.

Is it what you expected? More or less. But I did research as an undergraduate, so I knew what I was getting myself into.

What do you do exactly? For my research, I run behavioral experiments on human subjects and immunoassays including or similar to ELISA. On rare occasion I also do functional brain imaging. (Aside from my research, I also take classes and attempt to teach undergrad neurobiology courses.)

And any other information you would be willing to share. Maybe a heads up or anything for someone interested….? Are you interested in being an academic research scientist or working in industry? Bachelors, Masters, or PhD level? My advice is different depending.