Build a 3-5 page research report on a topic you actually want to learn about. The report uses every Domain 4 skill: a multi-level heading structure (Heading 1, 2, and 3), at least three footnotes, an auto-generated Table of Contents at the start, and at least one TOC update during the build (after adding or renaming a heading).

📋 Pick Your Topic

Pick something with substance to it — a topic you'll actually research, not just summarize from one source. Some options that work well at this length:

• An event from another class you're studying (a historical event, a scientific discovery, a literary work)
• The history of something specific in a hobby or interest area (a board game, a sport, a music genre)
• A current issue you care about — researched from multiple sources, presented neutrally
• A short biography of someone whose work you admire
• A "how does this work" deep-dive (how does a vaccine work, how does a black hole form, how does a credit score get calculated)

Do real research. Find at least three sources you can cite via footnotes. The report doesn't have to be exhaustive — it does have to be honest.

📋 Step-by-Step Build Instructions

1. Set Document Properties first. File → Info → Properties. Set Title to your report's title and confirm Author shows your full name.
2. Type a placeholder for the TOC. At the very top of the document, type a paragraph with the words "Table of Contents". Don't apply any heading style to this — it's a placeholder until step 16. Press Enter to leave a blank line below.
3. Insert a Page Break (Ctrl+Enter) after the placeholder. Your report's content starts on page 2; the TOC sits on page 1.
4. Type your report's title. Apply Heading 1 from the Styles gallery (or press Ctrl+Alt+1). The title becomes your document's first major heading.
5. Outline your structure with Heading 2's first. Type each major section heading (3-5 of them) and apply Heading 2 (Ctrl+Alt+2) to each. Don't write content yet — just the structural skeleton.

   Home tab › Styles gallery › Heading 2

   Examples for "How Vaccines Work": 1.1 What's in a Vaccine, 1.2 How the Immune System Responds, 1.3 Types of Vaccines, 1.4 Why Vaccines Sometimes Fail.
6. Add at least three Heading 3's somewhere in your structure. Pick two or three of your Heading 2 sections and add 2-3 Heading 3 sub-sub-sections under each. Apply Heading 3 (Ctrl+Alt+3). Example: under "1.3 Types of Vaccines," add 1.3.1 mRNA Vaccines, 1.3.2 Inactivated Virus Vaccines, 1.3.3 Subunit Vaccines.

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   Screenshot: Document with H1, H2, H3 hierarchy visible

   Capture a Word document showing the outline structure: one Heading 1 at top, three or four Heading 2's beneath, multiple Heading 3's under one of the Heading 2's. Visible distinction between levels (different sizes/colors).

   Suggested filename: heading-hierarchy-example.png
7. Now write the body content. Add 1-3 paragraphs of body text under each heading. Don't worry about footnotes yet — just write. Aim for roughly 500-800 words total across the whole report. Show/Hide should stay ON throughout — verify no double-Enter spacing or stray tabs.
8. Insert your first footnote. Find a sentence that needs a citation (a fact you got from a source, a quote, a statistic). Place your cursor at the end of the sentence (after the period). Press Alt+Ctrl+F or References → Insert Footnote.
9. Type the footnote text. Word drops your cursor at the bottom of the page after a separator line. Type your citation in a consistent format. Example for a book: Author Last, First Initial. (Year). Title in italics. Publisher. Page or pages. Click back into the body when done.
10. Insert at least two more footnotes at different spots in your body text — one on a different page if your report extends past one page. Each adds a new sequentially-numbered reference mark and a new note at the bottom of its page.
11. Open the Footnote & Endnote dialog to confirm your number format. Click the small launcher arrow at the bottom-right of the Footnotes group. Confirm "Footnotes" location and "1, 2, 3, …" number format. (You can change these if you prefer Roman or symbols, but Arabic is standard for academic work.)

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    Screenshot: Footnote dialog with chosen number format

    Capture the Footnote & Endnote dialog showing your settings: Footnotes location, "1, 2, 3, …" number format selected, Continuous numbering. The dialog should appear over a document with footnotes already inserted.

    Suggested filename: footnote-format-confirmation.png
12. Verify your heading structure with Show/Hide on. Scroll through the document. Click on each heading you wrote. Check the Styles gallery — every heading should highlight Heading 1, 2, or 3 (not Normal). If any show Normal, apply the correct heading style now. This step is the most important verification of the week — the TOC depends on it.
13. Insert page numbers in the footer (carryover skill from Week 2). Insert → Header & Footer → Page Number → Bottom of Page → Plain Number 2 (centered) or Plain Number 3 (right-aligned). The TOC will reference these page numbers.
14. Now build the TOC. Scroll back to page 1. Click after the "Table of Contents" placeholder text on the same line, OR click on the blank line just below it. References tab → Table of Contents → Automatic Table 1.

    References › Table of Contents › Automatic Table 1

    Word inserts a TOC. It should show all your Heading 1's, 2's, and 3's with page numbers.
15. Customize the TOC. Click in the TOC. References → Table of Contents → Custom Table of Contents… Set Show levels to 3 (default). Confirm Tab leader is dotted. Click OK. When asked "Replace the existing table of contents?" click Yes.
16. Test the Update workflow. Add one new Heading 2 somewhere in your report (call it "Conclusion" if you don't have one yet, or any new section). Type a sentence under it. Then scroll to your TOC. Click in the TOC. Press F9. Pick "Update entire table." OK. The new heading appears in the TOC at the right page. This is the moment Domain 4 clicks. If the new heading didn't appear, check that you applied a Heading style — not just made the text bold.

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    Screenshot: Final TOC with Heading 1, 2, 3 entries and page numbers

    Capture the completed TOC at the start of the report — multiple Heading 1 entries (top level), indented Heading 2 entries beneath, deeper-indented Heading 3 entries. Dotted tab leaders connecting text to right-aligned page numbers.

    Suggested filename: completed-toc-example.png
17. Final QC sweep. Show/Hide on. Scroll through the entire document. Verify: heading styles applied (Click each, check Styles gallery); footnotes numbered consecutively (1, 2, 3); reference marks in body match notes at page bottoms; TOC shows every heading; page numbers match.
18. Save the .docx. File → Save As → Browse. Filename:

    lastname-firstname_week05_research-report.docx
19. Export the PDF. File → Export → Create PDF/XPS Document. Same filename, .pdf extension:

    lastname-firstname_week05_research-report.pdf
20. Open the PDF and verify. Close Word. Find the .pdf. Open it. Confirm: TOC at top, page numbers correct, all headings visible, footnotes intact at the bottoms of pages. If anything broke during export, return to the .docx, fix, re-export.

✅ Project B Requirements Checklist

• Document Properties (Title, Author) populated
• 3-5 pages of content (not counting the TOC page)
• One Heading 1 (the report title)
• At least 3 Heading 2's (major sections)
• At least 3 Heading 3's (sub-sub-sections)
• All headings applied via Styles gallery — none manually formatted
• At least 3 footnotes inserted with proper citations
• Footnote number format set to Arabic (1, 2, 3) with continuous numbering
• Page numbers in the footer
• Auto-generated Table of Contents on page 1, showing 3 levels
• Tab leader on TOC is dotted
• TOC has been updated at least once after a heading change (verifies you know how to update)
• Show/Hide reveals no double-Enter spacing or tab characters
• Saved as .docx using the course naming convention
• Exported as .pdf using the course naming convention
• The .pdf opens cleanly and matches the .docx

The framework specifies "a one-paragraph statement explaining what the TOC should look like and why" plus a checklist verifying the report's structure. This week's third deliverable combines both into one short document.

📝 Part 1 — The Structure Statement (1 paragraph)

Write a single paragraph of 100-150 words covering all three of these:

1. What the TOC should look like — how many top-level entries (your Heading 1 count), how many sub-entries (Heading 2 count), how deep the deepest entries go (Heading 3 count)
2. Why your structure is correct for your topic — why you grouped sections the way you did
3. One thing you'd reorganize if you wrote a Volume 2 of this report

📋 Part 2 — The Verification Checklist

Below the paragraph, paste the following checklist. Replace each [ ] with [x] only after genuinely verifying that item. Add a brief location reference after each item (page number, heading name, etc.).