Guidelines+for+lab+report

=Guidelines for writing a lab report= Download the document.

Title:
A good title comprises the fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents of the paper. A title can be short if it contains specific terms rather general terms. Be careful of syntax (word order) and avoid abbreviations.

Introduction:
The purpose of the introduction is to supply the reader with sufficient background information to understand and evaluate the results of the present study without needing to refer to previous publications on the topic. State briefly and clearly your purpose for writing the paper. Choose references carefully to provide the most important background information. State the method of the investigation, variables and reasons for the choice of that particular method. Write the introduction in the present tense.

Materials and methods:
The main purpose of this section is to describe the experimental design and provide enough details so that a competent person can repeat the experiments. To have scientific merit, your experiments must be reproducible.

For materials, include the exact quantities, the source you obtained it from and method of preparation. Avoid using trade names; use generic or chemical names which are more well known and consistent. Experimental animals, plants and microorganisms should be identified accurately by genus and species. Organism names should be //italicised//.

For methods, be precise by answering questions such as “how” and “how much.”

Results:
This is the most important section that contains the data. Your results should be presented in the past tense. The results should be clearly and simply stated because the results constitute the new knowledge that you are contributing to the world. Avoid redundancy by not describing in length what is already apparent to readers in figures and tables. Your quantitative data should be visually communicated using at least one graph (e.g. pie chart, line graph, histogram, bar graph) following the rules provided. Graphs are considered to be figures.

Tables and figures should be numbered accordingly and each have their own descriptive titles. A paragraph or brief description should describe the trends observed.

Tables: Table number and title, headings with units in brackets, data neatly presented in columns. Units should not follow numbers in the columns.

Figures: Figure number and title with name and date, legend, headings for x and y-axes with unites in brackets, appropriate scale for x- and y-axes, correctly plotted points using different symbols and line styles for each data set, line of best fit.

Discussion:
Characteristics of a good discussion:
 * 1) Discusses the principles, relationships and generalizations shown by the Results.
 * 2) Point out any exceptions or any lack of correlation and define unsettled points. Never take the high risk-alternative of trying to cover up or fudge data that do not fit. Discuss possible modifications to future experiments that would take these into account.
 * 3) Shows how your results and interpretations agree or contrast with previously published works.
 * 4) Discusses the theoretical implications of your work, as well as any possible practical applications.

Conclusion:
Your conclusion will relate back to the purpose of the experiment and will either support or reject your hypothesis. State your conclusion as clearly as possible. Do not draw grand conclusions that are not supported by your data.

Terminology:
//Observation//: A measurement made using the senses. There are two types of observations:


 * 1) Quantitative: an observation that is measured using instruments like rulers and balances that give data that are numerical and considered objective (ie. length, mass, volume, etc.)
 * 2) Qualitative: an observation that is NOT usually measured using instruments and cannot be counted. Qualitative data is considered subjective (ie. Colour, shape, texture, etc.)

//Variable//: a factor that can change during an experiment.
 * 1) Independent: a variable that the experimenter deliberately changes in order to observe its effect on the experiment.
 * 2) Dependent: a variable that may or may not change as a result of the independent variable.
 * 3) Controlled: a variable that is kept constant during an experiment.
 * 4) Extraneous: A variable that the experimenter cannot control (as opposed to did not control) which can affect the results of the experiment.

//Experimental control//: A condition or sample in which the independent variable is not applied so that it may serve as a comparison for the tested samples. For example, if organisms are treated with drugs, a negative control organism that is not treated with drugs must be included in the experimental design. Every experiment must have controls or the data will be insignificant.

//Experimental error//: Factors other than the independent variable that affect the dependent variable. These include human error, limitations in the accuracy and precision of measuring instruments.

//Replicates//: More than one sample is used to test an independent variable. Greater sample size increases the statistical significance of quantitative data by averaging out any experimental error.