I don't do animations, but I have an answer. You research a topic well enough to be able to understand if the result is OK or not. Usually it means figuring out some sort of testing.

I'm researching causal inference right now, and my main goal was to make sure I understand how to test estimation on synthetic data.

Basically, it's the same way it works with people. If you delegate a task that you don't understand, and you can't have a credibility proof (i.e. doctors, lawyers), then you research a topic well enough to be able to (1) define the task and (2) verify the end result.