<p>"good" research would probably be publishable (is this even a word?) research in a nationally recognized journal, like the journal of biological chemistry (which is where my lab publishes most of its articles)</p>
<p>"lame" research would be when you're in a lab and all you do is help out by running a few gels for one postdoc, purifying protein X for the biologist over there, fermenting bacteria B for the technician here... that's not research at all in fact, it's cheap labor.</p>
<p>Also, research should never be performed if it's already been done and published before</p>