Betting without research means you are gambling blindly.
While this is true in some cases, it is not always the case, especially when you think about sports betting. It is definitely worth doing some research before placing a bet. For example, in today's Champions Trophy match between Bangladesh and New Zealand, no matter how much research you do, New Zealand is definitely far ahead of Bangladesh. Before betting here, if you look at the statistics, it will be clear that New Zealand performs better at Pakistani venues than Bangladesh, which is why New Zealand is definitely ahead in betting in today's match.
Just because research doesn't predict the outcome, it doesn't change the fact that gambling without any knowledge about the teams is gambling blindly. I mean it's the perfect word for it, so what would you call it?
Question that i think you are after, is that: Is research bringing better results then betting blindly? And i honestly can't even answer to that. I had way better results by basing my bets on odds, then comparing those odds with stats research. But then again i am not a professional when it comes to team research.