I agree 100%. Impact based on research is tied more to politics rather than the quality of the research itself. Sad, but true!

Also, I wrote an article that I believe will be interesting to you , Emily, and your readers about words to use instead of "research" to better speak the language of the business. You mentioned it briefly too. Let me know your thoughts.

https://medium.com/ux-magazine/is-research-the-best-word-to-describe-what-ux-researchers-do-1c01073dfeb3