In practice, sure, that's fine. As a career choice, I actually want to get some research done, so I'm likely to take an approach similar to that of a professor at my school.

The thing is, I'm starting to hear people making all sorts of claims like "Those people aren't really doing science," "That researcher isn't going to get anywhere with his approach" and I want to know when I should find those comments credible. I get curious, you know?