6 Understanding How Researchers Discover New Knowledge

While we all encounter new information every day, we don’t always stop to think about how new knowledge is generated and then communicated to us. These resources are designed to help you give your students a basic understanding of the research and publication process that stands behind the generation of new knowledge. Not all knowledge is generated through the formal research methods described here, as we all learn things through our everyday experiences as well. However, a basic understanding of the kinds of research done in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities can help your students do a better job of searching for, evaluating, and making use of information sources in both school work and their personal lives.

This infographic outlines the kinds of research scholars in various fields engage in and how they are communicated to others. Feel free to work through the infographic with your students yourself or show the following video where we use the infographic as a starting point to exploring these processes before discussing with your students as appropriate to your class.

Video Runtime: 5:15