Adam Zapple, the type of work I did was physically conducting experiments. On food, you make batch after batch, day after day to try to match a gold standard. For instance, if you were trying to make an apple pie like Marie Callender you would always compare your recipe to Marie's. You would have taste panels decide if they were identical. You would have discussions on what it is missing or has too much of. Then sometimes companies send their product with the gold standard to focus groups to have them tell you what is good or bad about the product. They may also ask does it have too much sugar, too much cinnamon, too much crust to apples. The survey could be pages long. Once the feedback comes back then back to the bench to tweak the recipe again. Then more taste testing, more focus groups. Once the match is satisfactory, pies must be made and put into storage. They are stored at various temperatures and held for about 9 months to determine if they hold up and still taste good. Plus, this will determine best use by dates. During the 9 months the pies would be removed and tasted and samples sent to microbiology for testing to make sure it is an edible, safe product and it is checked for nutritional evaluation. So the Technician is in charge of all this once the product is made in the pilot plant. The Technician keeps track of the samples, bakes them, takes photos, measures them, records all of this pertinent information during the course of the 9 months. Then on top of that, that won't be the only storage study going on. You could have 20 storage studies going on. The Technician may be asked to attend the focus groups to prepare the samples. It is very hectic to work in an unfamiliar environment. It isn't a job where you sit at a computer all day long. You are typically on your feet all day long recording your results in a lab book.
Depending on what your type of job is, most technicians are performing testing on machines. If you were working on a rubber product you might have to use a machine that will pierce the rubber or a machine that stretches the rubber. Then there are tests to put pallets of product on a shaker machine to simulate the product being transported by truck. This test will give you an idea how the bottles, cans, or other materials might react in transit. Sometimes there is breakage then the packaging might need optimization. There is so much stuff in R&D it would make your head spin. My point is, that most people in research of products are not at their computers all day long.