Lab reports are an integral part of all laboratory courses. As a rule, they take a significant part of student’s grade. If your instructor provides you with an outline of how to generate a lab report, do use it. In this article we offer a lab report format you can make use of if you’re not sure what to write about or in need of a clear explanation of what to include in different report parts. A lab report is used to provide explanation of what you did in the experiment, of what you have learnt and what kind of results you’ve come up with. Here is a typical format provided for you.
Not every lab report includes a title page, but if your tutor requires it, it will be a single page that involves:
The title shows up what you have already done. Make sure to make it short (not more than 10 words). Moreover, it has to highlight the key point of your investigation or experiment. If it is possible, begin your title using a keyword rather than an “A” or “The” article.
An introductive section is just a paragraph that provides explanation of the objectives or purpose of your lab. Provide the hypothesis statement in one sentence. Sometimes you may be required to provide some background information, in a few words sum up how you’ve performed the experiment, state the experiment findings, and make a list of investigation conclusions. Even if you do not generate a whole introduction, you’re in need of stating the experiment purpose, or the reason why you did it. This would be where you provide your hypothesis statement.
Make a list of every single thing you’re in need of to accomplish your experiment. Moreover, it is highly important to describe all the steps you’ve gone through in the process of investigation. Make certain you’re sufficiently detailed that any one could read this section and then copy your experiment. Work on it as if you were providing someone with the direction of how to do the lab. It may become helpful to use a diagram of your experimental set-up.
Numerical data you’ve obtained in the procedure should be presented as a table. It covers what you have recorded when you performed the experiment. These are just the facts, not just any interpretation of what these facts mean.
The Data section includes numbers. The Analysis section covers any calculations you have made on the basis of those numbers. This is the section where you’re required to interpret the data and figure out whether a hypothesis was accepted or it wasn’t. This is also a section where you would provide discussion for all errors you might have made in the process of investigation. Plus, you may want to describe the ways the study might have been enhanced.
Usually, this is just a single paragraph that summarizes what has happened in the process of experiment, whether or not your hypothesis was accepted, and what all this means.
Figures and graphs should be labelled with a title of a descriptive nature. Mark the axes on the graph, being certain to include measurement units. The independent variable should be on the X-axis while the dependent one (this is the one you measure) is on the Y-axis. Make certain to refer to graphs and figures in the report content.
If your research was conducted on the basis of some other author’s work or if you cited facts that need documentation, in this case you have to list all the references.
