while nachforschen focuses on the process
To a certain degree, yes. Insofar as it involves some level of success, though
erforschen also describes a process. The main thing is that erforschen focuses on the object of the research.
This is a general problem with the prefix
er- that it not only constructs transitive derivation of Intransitive base verbs but also implies some form of success. A well know example of where this regularly causes mistranslations is the English verb
to shoot, which as transitive and intransitive uses. The intransitive use of
to shoot translates as
schießen and the transitive use
to shoot someone translates as
jemanden erschießen. But while
to shoot someone does not imply that the person has been killed, the German
jemanden erschießen does imply this. If you want to say that someone is
shot and wounded and not
shot and killed, you have to use a different transitive derivation,
jemanden anschießen. There is no generic way to say
to shoot someone.
