Difference between "sha" and "in" (i.e. 研究員 vs 研究者)


I'm on first year of Japanese study. I've found on my notes the word
"kenkyuusha" (研究者) which means researcher, but while reviewing for vocabulary
on the internet I found "kenkyuuin" (研究員) instead.

I don't know much about how to form new vocabulary using suffixes yet, but I'm
guessing both ("sha" and "in") mean person in some way (used in other words I
also have, like kaishain, isha, ginkouin, etc). That means that these suffixes
are kind of interchangeable, or did I just take a bad translation and
"kenkyuuin" is the correct one?




研究員 would usually imply a researcher who is a member of some specific
organisation whereas 研究者 is just a general term for "researcher". 員 means
"member" 委員 = committee member etc.

