HOW TO WRITE AN EXCELLENT LAB REPORT
All practical or laboratory courses usually require lab reports, and they typically make up a significant portion of your final score in the subject. So, if your course is in the science, technology, engineering, or mathematics(STEM) fields, you will need to write a report for your laboratory session(s).
Writing lab reports is a simple yet clinical process. All you need to do is recognize that each component of a lab report is crucial and take your time to complete each one thoroughly. In cases like this, it is best to leave the heavy lifting to the best lab report writing service for cheap and professional help.
What Is A Lab Report?
Before going through the steps of writing an excellent lab report, knowing what a lab report is and its relevance to your academic success is essential.
A lab report is a concise write-up by students describing what was done in the lab, i.e. the experiment, what was discovered, and what results were obtained. Lab reports prove to your tutor that you fully participated in and understood the tasks done in class.
Hence, it is essential to properly structure, organize and write your lab report to get good marks. Depending on the instructor, a lab report may need to be submitted separately or as part of a lab notebook.
If you are not sure of what to write or need an explanation of what should go in each section of the report, you can use this format for a lab report. In any case, you can rest assured that a trustworthy assignment help for students provide professional lab report help at any time you reach out to give you the help you need.
The Structure Of A Lab Report
When structuring your report, it is best to use the format provided by your instructor if they offer you one for writing lab reports. Nonetheless, the main sections that make up a lab report are the title, introduction/aim, abstract, methods and materials used, findings, discussion, conclusion, and references. Hence, they should be included in your report.
TITLE PAGE
Although title pages are not required for all lab reports, if your instructor requests one, it should be one page containing the title of the experiment, your name and the names of your lab partners, if any, your teacher’s name and the date the laboratory session was held, or the day you turned in the report.
TITLE
The title is a headline stating what you did. It should be concise (ten words or less) and summarize the experiment’s primary point. Also, it should be descriptive of the experiment and represent the results that were seen.
You should see the lab report title as the chance to make the right first impression on the reader. This is because excellent titles describe the topic and conclusions of your investigation in succinct terms. Make a title that expresses the main emphasis or aim of your research.
It does not have to be catchy or thought-provoking, but it must be informative. Where possible, begin your title with a term rather than an article, such as “The” or “A”.An example is “Effects of substrate composition on polyp extension rate in StichodactylaHaddoni(black sea anemone).
ABSTRACT
An abstract is not required for all lab reports. They are, however, frequently included in upper-level lab reports and should be thoroughly studied.
Abstracts provide an overview of the entire experiment and should enlighten the reader about the research’s objective. Even though they constitute the opening paragraph of a lab report, abstracts are always written last.
These questions will help guide your train of thought while crafting your abstract:
l Why was the study or experiment carried out?
l What is the issue being addressed?
l What findings were found after the experimentation?
l What are the implications of these findings?
l How is the current understanding of the situation compared to before?
AIM/INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE
Typically, the introduction is about one paragraph that explains the report’s objectives or purpose and the theory behind it. An introduction may include background information, a summary of how the experiment was carried out, the findings, and a list of the conclusions you made.
Even if you don’t write an introduction, you must express the experiment’s aim or why you conducted it. The opening to a lab report highlights the topic under investigation and various theories relevant to comprehending the findings.
You should avoid copying an introduction from a lab manual or other recommendations; write the introduction in your own words instead. Doing it yourself helps to demonstrate your understanding of the experiment by quickly explaining its relevance. Here is a fitting approach to use when constructing your introduction:
Ø Begin with a broad, generic research topic. You can do this by introducing your study topic and explaining why it is relevant in general terms or theoretical context.
Ø Then, focus your research on a specific issue. You should describe existing research on the experiments carried out and how your study may validate, expand, or fill a gap in the research field.
Ø You may also discuss the theoretical foundation for your research and any immediately relevant laws or equations you’ll employ in your analysis.
Ø It would be best to end your introduction with a specific research question.
In addition, some institutions may require you to organize your introduction into subheadings such as “Context” or “Aims”. In any case, endeavor to outline your hypotheses to express your primary research goals and expectations. But also, if you have any difficulties with any section of your lab report, you can use lap report help services from Essaybrother’s team of PhD writers.
METHOD
The method section of your lab report describes the procedures you took throughout the experiment, i.e. collecting and evaluating data. It would be best if you were descriptive enough so that others could follow your experiment or assess what you did. List the actions taken in the order they occurred during the experiment. Please write this section in the past tense.
Also, if you must include lengthy lists of procedures or resources, put them in the Appendices section but refer to them in the body. The appendices section helps you keep helpful information that may distract your readers if held together with other information.
If the experiment is designed correctly, another researcher should be able to replicate it and obtain the same or very comparable results. In this section, you should detail your:
ü Experimental design – How you assigned samples and investigation
ü Subjects – Describe the demographic traits or genetic characteristics of subjects, including the total number of subjects for each experiment and how they were recruited
ü Procedures taken
ü Materials used
The section on procedures and materials describes any equipment, apparatus, or other substances utilized in the experiment and the actions done during the experiment. If you use a precise amount of something, make sure you write it down—for example, a Beaker of specific volume, round-bottom flask, 0.7mg Ag, etc.
ü Data collection and analysis processes.
DATA
Data includes everything you recorded during the experiment. It is simply the facts, without any interpretation of what they mean. Numerical data or any obtained from your experiment may be presented using tables.
RESULTS
The results section displays the information gathered or discovered throughout the experiment and the data that was initially collected. You may do this using graphs, charts, or other figures.
The Results and Discussion sections are sometimes combined. You should include the findings of any statistical analysis processes that you performed in your results section. It would help if you clarified how statistical test results support or disprove your initial ideas.
Here are some key results that you need to include in your report:
l Any statistical data that is sufficiently descriptive
l Standard error estimates or confidence intervals
l Statistical test results from your calculation
l The significance of the test findings
You can present these findings in the text as well as in tables and figures. Tables and figures should be designated numerically, such as “Table 1,” “Table 2,” “Figure 1,” “Figure 2,” and so on. You can also include calculations or equations used to explain the data in the results.
For complex studies, you must give sample calculations in the results section. You can achieve this by providing a brief description of what each sample calculation does by using clear symbols.
DISCUSSION
The discussion chapter is one of the most significant aspects of the lab report. It evaluates the experiment’s results and discusses the data collated. Here are a few things your discussion section should achieve:
Ø It should analyze any experimental errors that occurred.
Ø It should analyze the merits and shortcomings of the experiment’s design and compare your results to those of similar experiments.
Ø It should explain and discuss the findings using appropriate language and theories.
Ø It should explain why any unexpected results occurred and how they affected or did not affect the data obtained.
When writing the discussion section, you should ask yourself what the findings imply, if there are any knowledge gaps, if the results were what was expected or if any new issues have come up, especially if you get different results than those of your classmates.
Also, this is where you interpret the data and decide whether a hypothesis was accepted or not. You would discuss any errors you may have made during the investigation and describe how you could have improved the study.
The Discussion part will assist you in demonstrating your comprehension of the experimental procedure and your critical thinking abilities. You are also encouraged to make recommendations for future research by comparing your findings to those of other studies and explaining any significant differences.
CONCLUSION
The conclusion is typically a single paragraph summarising all that occurred in the experiment; it should include facts like whether your hypothesis was accepted or denied and what this means.
The conclusion should express what was learned and its significance in a clear and straightforward manner. If there is any additional work to be done, it should be explained in the conclusion section.
The conclusion should include a brief review of the study’s strengths and limitations, as well as the implications for future research.
Some lab reports may skip this section as it often overlaps with the discussion section. Hence, you should consult with your instructor first.
FIGURES AND GRAPHS
Both graphs and figures need to have a sufficiently descriptive title. You should label your graph’s axes and include the units of measurement.
The X-axis normally represents the independent variable, and the Y-axis represents the dependent variable, which is the one you are measuring. The first figure is Figure 1; the second figure is Figure 2, etc.; therefore, be sure to use that terminology throughout your report.
REFERENCES
The references section is where you give credit to those sources that contributed to your write-up. You must reference the source if your research was based on someone else’s work or if you used information that has to be supported.
Any outside sources used to back up a statement or provide context must be referenced in the lab report’s references section. The references section might be omitted if no other sources were used.
Also, ensure you use the correct citation and referencing styles according to your academic discipline or as directed by your university.
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An excellent lab report should be carefully written, organized, and formatted according to the professor’s instructions. The foundation of each successful lab report is research.
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