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Reading ahead of document

T

Trevor

Member
Hi,

We will be penalised if our audit trail or summary requires the reader to read ahead of the document to understand certain information.
However, is it okay if we clearly signpost to read ahead?

For example, I might have missed a data error until the very late part of the modelling. I will get some calculation error because I missed a fix in the original data. I debugged the error which lead me to finding the data error.
Under such case, I would mention that fix early on (in the data section) in my audit trail. But It is hard to explain how did I notice this, so I signpost:
"Please refer to XXX section of this document for the rationale of this fix"

The explanation of how this error is spotted is somewhere in the "Model" section of my audit trail. It explains the steps done, the checks and finally realizing the error.
Under time pressure, it is difficult to work backwards trying to find a way to spot this in advance. Even so, if it requires inserting a new column it will invalidate the references in my audit trail.

So, is it okay to signpost forward this way, to give the reader a warning to read ahead?
What I can think of is to mention specifically where can it be found, including the page number.
 
Try and avoid needing to do this in the exam. It can be difficult with your audit trail, but you should try and ensure that it explains your final model rather than a previous version. Ensure you leave enough time to write your audit trail by not over-complicating your model. Students tend to find Paper 1 can be quite time pressured.

One of the main requirement of the audit trail is that it is clear for another user to follow what you have done - I think your suggestion would potentially lose your marks around this criteria.
 
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