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    Lab Reports: Survival Guide

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    Wendy Gu
    The document provides a guide for writing lab reports, outlining their typical structure and components. It explains that lab reports usually begin with an introduction that establishes the context and purpose of the research before narrowing to the specific aim and hypotheses. This is followed by a methods section describing how the experiment was conducted and a results section presenting the key findings. The report concludes with a discussion section that interprets the results, considers limitations, and suggests future work. Well-written lab reports use accurate terminology, appropriate tenses, and tables or figures to communicate complex information clearly and concisely.

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    Lab Reports: Survival Guide

    Uploaded by

    Wendy Gu
    72 views2 pages
    The document provides a guide for writing lab reports, outlining their typical structure and components. It explains that lab reports usually begin with an introduction that establishes the context and purpose of the research before narrowing to the specific aim and hypotheses. This is followed by a methods section describing how the experiment was conducted and a results section presenting the key findings. The report concludes with a discussion section that interprets the results, considers limitations, and suggests future work. Well-written lab reports use accurate terminology, appropriate tenses, and tables or figures to communicate complex information clearly and concisely.

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    A1 Lab reports(1)

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    The document provides a guide for writing lab reports, outlining their typical structure and components. It explains that lab reports usually begin with an introduction that establishes the context and purpose of the research before narrowing to the specific aim and hypotheses. This is followed by a methods section describing how the experiment was conducted and a results section presenting the key findings. The report concludes with a discussion section that interprets the results, considers limitations, and suggests future work. Well-written lab reports use accurate terminology, appropriate tenses, and tables or figures to communicate complex information clearly and concisely.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    72 views2 pages

    Lab Reports: Survival Guide

    Uploaded by

    Wendy Gu
    The document provides a guide for writing lab reports, outlining their typical structure and components. It explains that lab reports usually begin with an introduction that establishes the context and purpose of the research before narrowing to the specific aim and hypotheses. This is followed by a methods section describing how the experiment was conducted and a results section presenting the key findings. The report concludes with a discussion section that interprets the results, considers limitations, and suggests future work. Well-written lab reports use accurate terminology, appropriate tenses, and tables or figures to communicate complex information clearly and concisely.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    STUDYSmarter

    Survival Guide
    LAB REPORTS

    H
    What is a lab report? Title
    The title should be brief and informative,
    Lab reports convey the findings allowing a reader to quickly deduce whether
    of scientific research. This guide the study is relevant to their purposes.
    examines the structure of lab reports and
    explains how to write the different sections. Abstract
    The abstract succinctly summarises the
    Structuring a lab report entire report. It should contain information
    from each section in the same order it
    A lab report is structured like an hourglass: appears in the report. It may be easier to
     The introduction starts with the broad return to the abstract after completing the
    context of the research and then narrows other sections of the lab report.
    to the specific research aim;
     The methods and results of the study Introduction
    are then presented; and An effective introduction clearly
     In the discussion section, specific identifies the context and
    research findings are discussed before purpose of the research. It often
    expanding out to broader implications. spans at least two paragraphs.

    Scope\ . When writing your introduction, try to:


    Introduction
    narrows  Begin with a general statement about
    the topic and its relevance/significance;
     Introduce background information,
    Methods
    define key terms and theories, and
    briefly review relevant literature;
    Results  Introduce the research aim; and
     State the hypothesis or hypotheses.
    Scope nsh
    broadei/ Discussion

    TIP
    Components of a lab report
    The research aim is a statement of the
    While the exact format may vary between overarching goal of the research, e.g., The
    disciplines, most lab reports include: study aimed to investigate the impact of a
     The title of the experiment; study partner on student motivation.
     An abstract that summarises the report;
     An introduction that establishes the A hypothesis is a testable statement that
    context and purpose of the research; specifies the key variables studied and the
     An account of the methods used; predicted direction of the effect, e.g., It was
     A description of the main results; hypothesised that students with a study
     An interpretive discussion section; partner would be more motivated to study
     A list of references cited; and compared to students without a partner.
     A list of appendices (if necessary).

    Assignments 1
    Methods
    The methods section includes a description  Next, interpret your results in light of the
    of how the experiment was carried out, research aim. Discuss how the results fit
    details about any subjects or participants, with or differ from the research you
    and an account of the materials used. described in the introduction.
     Finally, discuss the broader theoretical
    You may be required to divide the methods and/or practical implications of the study,
    section using subheadings (e.g. subjects, key limitations, and suggest possible
    materials, procedure). Be sure to check the directions for future research.
    specific requirements of your unit.
    References
    TIP List the sources you cited in the lab report
    using the required referencing style.
    Include enough information so the study
    could be replicated by another researcher. Appendices
    This section is optional. Include information
    Results that would distract from the flow of the
    The results section provides a description report but may still be useful to the reader,
    (not interpretation) of the main findings. e.g. raw data, measurement tools,
    Focus on the results that are relevant to calculations, and experimental stimuli.
    your specific aims and hypotheses.
    TIP
    TIP
    Use different tenses for different tasks:
    Use tables and figures to summarise  Use the past tense when discussing,
    complex information. Each table or figure previous research (e.g. Previous
    should be clearly labelled, numbered studies found…), describing the
    sequentially, and referred to in your report methods and results (e.g. over 5% of
    (e.g. “As shown in Figure 1... ; Descriptive participants reported…);
    statistics are displayed in Table 2.”).  Use the present tense when discussing
    tables and figures (e.g. Figure 5
    Discussion indicates…) and referring to the
    The discussion is where you comment on, significance and interpretation of
    interpret and explain your results: results (e.g. Removal of the agent
     First, state whether the results supported appears to reduce…); and
    the hypotheses. In scientific research we  Use the future tense to suggest future
    never “prove” a hypothesis; it can only research (e.g. Further research will
    be supported or not supported. determine the outcome…).

    Like this Survival Guide? Why not check out more of our guides...
    Writing a Book Review, Writing an Annotated Bibliography, Starting Assignments, Opinion Articles, Writing a
    Report, Reflective Writing, and Using Turnitin.

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