Thebigone- I think youre mistaken. In 3 hours i can definitely figure out more than i can from doing research. I can figure out if the girl is physically appealing to me. Furthermore some people dont sound good on paper or can be misjudged and you can judge them much better in person. I have done tons of research and seen a date go nowhere and done little research and had some chemistry. To make a broad statement that there is no way you could know is simply incorrect.
It should also be noted, that research is difficult. No one ever tells you negative information, and it is not always easy to ask the right pointed questions needed