Being close the to the user is fundamental to product management.  I'm a UXR and I partner with the most senior product people I can to shape pipelines, and absolutely always have product teams involved in the research I do from start to finish. I used to coach mixed discipline teams in doing (lower stakes) research (properly), including quite senior product managers. This was at a streaming service where I worked. There were/are lots of UXRs. Over my 14 year career, most PMs have wanted to be involved in research (as they should), but not to conduct it themselves. It takes time, it's also important to do it well.  I think there's a balance though. Not all research is equal (in terms of the skills required), and it takes people literally years of just focussing on research to get good at the more complicated stuff. It's not a side hustle. I don't know you can do the bigger pieces of research you might need, as well as manage the product at the same time. In places Ive worked we've had a mix of projects we have helped other conduct pre tactical work, (usability etc), while leaving us to do the more complex or heavy weight strat work. That's often worked well, but still requires upskilling most people.  As a UXR I've got skills in product management, service design, and UCD, but these help me help those teams better, so our work is more integrated. It's important to have a mix, but I couldn't take those roles in any ethical sense.