CULE Report on Security Devices in Mainwaring Court by Fred Murray 18 October 1990 For: The Residents’ Association, Mainwari Court, London NW7 6BC Scanned with CamScanneroe & ew page, State the terms of refere; Nce or Next, on an : «actives YOu were given. Traditi ovjec onally, you use the infinitive form of the verb: to report o i estigate, or the like. For example: . TERMS OF REFERENCE n accordance with the instructions of the Joint to report on the security devices dents of Mainwaring Court, especi- with Harrow Hall. I Committee, used by resi ally in comparison this, explain your procedure - that is, give f account of how you obtained the what methods you used to Below the reader a brie information, and process it. For instance: n. the results of a wide tionnaire or personal t of the residents of This report is based o survey, conducted by ques interview, with 85 per cen Mainwaring Court and Harrow Hall responding: If necessary, you can also justify priefly the approach you have taken. Ifyou chose @ particular starting point or way of working, in the face of an obvious alternative, now is the time for you '° explain your reasons. Scanned with CamScannerACKNOWLEDGMENTS This section gives you the chance to note or thank people and institutions that have helped you in your research — perhaps your research assistant, or a newspaper library, or simply colleagues or friends who gave you moral support. Most people appreciate seeing their names in print, but often you cannot mention every person involved. It should be enough to write, for instance, ‘the Head Librarian, Ms Jones and her members of staff. Make sure to spell people's names correctly. In the case of financial aid, you should definitely acknowledge the individuals or groups who pro- vided any (though not the amounts provided). Scanned with CamScannerTHE ABSTRACT ARE, An abstract, or synopsis, usually takes the form of a single, tightly packed paragraph. It should summa- rise the aim, results, and recommendations of the report. The reader should be able to tell, from a glance at it, what the outcome of the research was. Take great care over the abstract; it is one of the trickiest sections to write. To condense a 100-page report into one short paragraph is bound to oversimplify things, but should not distort them. Try to reflect at least the salient points, and to convey the tone and emphasis of the report. Scanned with CamScannerFOOTNOTES, ENDNOTE) one BOGE ATHY, In compiling your report, you may ‘refer to a published work, or even quote directly from it. In each case, you need to provide full details of your source. You can do this in any of three ways: in a footnote (a note at the foot of the page); in an endnote (a note at the end of the report, or at the end of the section); or in a bracketed reference (immediately following the quotation or statistic in the running text). 321 Scanned with CamScannerAll three forms of reference try to balance two it conflicting problems-inconvenience when it comes to checking, and distraction or ugliness. Endnotes are least distracting or ugly, since theyare 5. tucked away out of sight at the end; but for that very reason they are. most inconvenient to find and check. Bracketed references within the running text are extremely convenient, but can be a distracting eyesore when dotted liberally about the page. i Footnotes, providing the best balance perhaps, are unfortunately the most difficult to type (though some word processors can now fit them in automatically on the page). os The style of footnotes and endnotes varies from publisher to publisher, and institution to institu- tion. Find out if the company or institution sponsoring your report has its own ‘house style’. If not, you could follow this typical pattern: 5 Winston Pie and Wilfred Smyth, The Nature of Nurture (New York: Proud Press, 1930), p 111. If you have a formal bibliography at the end of the report, you would typically enter the same book as follows, using full stops this time to separate the main elements. Pie, Winston, and Wilfred Smith. The Nature of Nurture. New York: Proud Press, 1930. Do remember to acknowledge every single quota- tion you use in your report, and every borrowed idea or phrase (though where possible try to consolidate neighbouring citations into a single reference note, for economy's sake). And don't forget to acknowledge too every illustration, chart, list of figures, and so on that you have borrowed from elsewhere. Scanned with CamScannerSUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL LLL LE Some information may be relevant to the report but not fit easily into the main body: a set of graphs, say, or some background letters and articles. It is less distracting to position them at the end of the report. So too with extra statistical or technical informa- tion: if the reader is likely to want to reinterpret it rather than rely on your analysis, provide it in % separate appendix. Scanned with CamScanner~~ ~—OMaLLY IT ~Y By,, “Ul 8 PPALY bog Me Allon ee my 1, NUMBERING irst Sub: ii 7 1.1. The First Subsection Heading 1.1.1. Each paragraph or Section unde, heading would be labelled Progress; “abou, 1.1.2., and 80 on. ively lay, | 1.2. The Second Subsection Heading 1.2.1. Similarly, each successive Section the heading reads 1.2.1., 1.2.2., 1.2.3 and ae an on. cae In this way, every heading, subheading, evn Paragraph has its identifying number Scanned with CamScanner“ibe report is very long and complicated, you m jeel that it needs an index as well as a table a contents. Remember, however, that a good — can be Very difficult and time-consuming to compile. Professional indexers will do this job for a fee, but itis unlikely you will receive funding for this. Think twice before undertaking to compile an index yourself. If time is short, keep your ambitions under restraint. Aim for a very simple, modest index. Scanned with CamScannerSIGNING AND DATING AAA As author you are usually obliged to sign the report and date it. No matter how short it is, the report is your work, and you must take responsibility for it. If the report was written by a team of people, it is usually signed by the chairman or chairwoman. Scanned with CamScanner