Complexities of Legal Research and Knowledge Acquisition

PREPARING ASSESSMENTS 2 AND 3 PREPARING ASSESSMENTS 2 AND 3 INTRODUCTION We cannot possibly claim to have all knowledge because we are only human. Even when we have a lot of data, we frequently have to accept that we do not fully grasp its importance or fully comprehend how intricately interrelated it is. What we do not know or understand inspires research. It frequently starts with a query. If we lack the expertise to ask a relevant inquiry, the question may not even be clear. As we learn more, we get more knowledgeable about the topic at issue; we identify what is obvious or trite, and we begin to understand the dark depths of the uncharted. As our knowledge and understanding expand in complexity, so do our inquiries, which are more nuanced and well-defined. By the time you complete this module, you will be a senior law student, and the questions you ask should reflect a degree of complexity and mental clarity befitting of someone who has come a long way in the exploration of the mysteries of the law. A careful and methodical inquiry or study of a topic with the goal of learning more or establishing facts is what is meant by research. When done correctly, research should deepen the researcher's knowledge of the topic and enable him or her to draw reliable conclusions from the information or facts found.. Knowledge gain progresses from fundamental to specialized. We can begin to gather data or information relevant to that specific issue after we have access to enough information to be able to develop a query deserving of serious inquiry. At the undergraduate level, we might not have the necessary knowledge or mental maturity to produce game-changing discoveries, but that does not mean we are incapable of conducting research. We might need to conduct research to answer 1|Page PREPARING ASSESSMENTS 2 AND 3 a question that others who have devoted their entire life to the study of a certain topic may already have provided appropriate answers to in order to bridge the gaps in our own knowledge and comprehension.. answers that we can't (yet) make better. At this level, the primary goal of study is not to make a truly original contribution that significantly expands the frontiers of knowledge, but rather to deepen and broaden the researcher's grasp of the topic.. Of course, most questions worth investigating do not have a single, definitive answer. We can add to the body of knowledge as singular people by organizing, processing, and analyzing information in novel ways, and then communicating our conclusions in a unique voice. Rarely do researchers attempt to innovate. The very fact that educational institutions exist is evidence that we are capable of learning from the efforts of others and that we actually do learn from them. Naturally, the researcher is more likely to discover reliable and significant solutions or answers to his or her queries the better the sources of information utilised and the more precise the facts amassed through study. This is true of all learning, but creating a research report requires more than just gathering data already available: It calls for the researcher to separate information pertinent to the specific research question from that which is irrelevant, to combine or synthesize what they have learned in a structured, systematic, meaningful, accurate, and scientific way, and to give form to the knowledge they have gained and the insights they have reached through the process.. Using human inventiveness and the diverse sources of knowledge obtained, the researcher develops a novel product. Similar to how two musicians working from the same score would never make exactly the same music, two academics studying the same subject will not come up with the same results. 2|Page