Guide to Lab Reports

							Guide to Lab Reports
From time to time you will be required to write a full lab report on an experiment or laboratory
exercise that you have done. This is a major assignment and requires your best efforts. Use care in
preparation. This report should have a look of high quality. It is required that you prepare your
work on the computer. It does not have to be long, usually around 2 pages.

The following is the general format that you should follow in preparing your lab reports.

TITLE: At the top of the page, write the title of the lab. Your lab guide gives you a title. (The title
can not be Lab report 1 or 2, etc.)

YOUR NAME: On the right, upper corner of the page, write your name, followed by your lab
partner’s name in parenthesis:         Me (My partner).

Title each of the sections clearly (Objective, Introduction, etc.)

OBJECTIVE (PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS)
 This is a statement of what you are trying to find out in the experiment. Be objective and go to the
ultimate goal of the exercise.
For instance, “To measure various items” is not a valid objective.


INTRODUCTION

A short paragraph which restates the objective. More important, it gives the reader some
background information about the topic of the experiment, and provides a short explanation on the
approach used during the experiment. This does not have to be long, usually 4-5 lines should be
enough.

PROCEDURE
Use the procedure in your textbook or Lab Guide as a guide, but remember that you may have
differences from the written procedure that was given to you. You don’t have to copy everything
from the lab guide, just the key points, and specially anything that was done differently from what
the lab guide says. Usually 5-10 lines.

DATA
Note that "data" is a plural word. These are your measurements and the observations that you made
during the performance of your experiment. This is your raw data, and there is no replacement for
these. If you transcribe them later, the transcribed ones are not raw data. You will submit your data
in 2 different forms:
1- Raw data: You will attach the “raw data”, which is the very paper you used during the lab. In
Earth Science, they will be the yellow copies from the lab notebook. In Biology, it is the very paper
you used in the lab. You will attach this Raw data at the end of the lab, as the last page(s).
2- You will also make a neat table (with your computer) and present the data. Be careful when you
copy the data. Because this a copy and not the actual raw data, use the actual raw data as a basis for
your calculations.

RESULTS
All calculations (even simple additions and subtractions of data), graphs, manipulations, and
interpretations of data are results. You may combine this section with DATA if it makes sense to
combine them in a single table. In that case you should title the section DATA AND RESULTS.
You may need to use a spreadsheet or graphing program in the preparation of this section.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
Most labs will have a set of questions that are to be answered in the report. You will include these
within results and discussion. The answers to the questions must be given in complete sentences that
indicate the substance of the question. Specifically, the reader should be able to fully discern the
original question by reading the first part of your answer. Your answers should be given in the
context of the lab that you participated in during class, and not beyond. Any additional comments if
warranted should be given in a separate statement following your answer as these are not direct
“results” of your experiment, but you may use such statements in your discussion of the results.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
This is a detailed explanation of the experimental results in comparison with theory. Did the results
agree with theory or prediction? Is some unknown factor operating? Try to look very carefully at the
experiment and analyze it in detail. Do not simply recap the RESULTS section. This is often the
section that students have the most difficulty with. You should be connecting the results of the lab
with the concepts that we are studying in class. Try to think deeply about just what is happening. It is
helpful to think about “What are the implications of a specific result on the larger topic being
examined? How a specific result leads to accepting or rejecting a hypothesis ?”

In this section you should also look for errors in the experiment. No lab report is complete without
an error analysis. It is very tempting to blame one's lab partner or even oneself for what seem to be
experimental errors. Resist the temptation. There are other possibilities that are just as likely. Some
experiments are not well designed. They permit other factors to influence the results. Some
equipment or materials may be inadequate or defective. These are known as systematic errors. They
are the ones that you search for. If you are observant, most often you can figure out why your results
are inconsistent or unexpected. Even in the event that the experiment did not proceed according to
expectation due to a mistake made by you, your partner, or both, you must make every effort to gain
as much information and experience from the lab, and your report should still follow the guidelines
provided, and discuss the results as these were obtained.
CONCLUSION
This is a one to two sentences statement of what you found out in the experiment. It should be
directly connected to the OBJECTIVE. There should never be doubt as to the basis (results,
discussion) of a conclusion you have provided.