Writing A Good Lab Report

Updated: 02 Sep 2022

Writing a lab report after carrying out some experiments can prove difficult for some students. Writing a good report can make a huge difference in the grading system of most professors and lecturers. A student can work very hard on the experiments given by their professors and even achieve the correct or perfect results but have a very hard time turning their results into a perfect lab report for grading. Hence, all their hard work could easily go waste with the students getting low grades despite having perfect results. However, some students may fail to attain the required results in the experiment but made have better grades due to the fact that they had better knowledge and skills when preparing their lab reports.

A lab report will be important since it will provide the process of the experiment, the raw materials required for the experiment, the information that can be reproduced or extended, an in-depth analysis of data, an extensive conclusion, and the recommendations that can be drawn from the results of the experiment. In the process of preparing a lab report, it is very critical for the student to be articulate, clear, and simple.

In the report, the results should be communicated in such a way that any person who is interested in the report can easily understand the outcome of the experiment. The report should also show a clear process of how the findings of the experiment were arrived at. The results of the experiment should be presented as a completely independent record that will not require any input added on by you.

How to prepare a lab report.

The most important part of preparing a lab report is understanding the structure that the lab report will follow. There are several structures that a lab report will follow. The structure to be followed will mostly be based on the instructions given by the professor or lecturer of the specific lecture. However, there is a basic structure for preparing a lab report that is commonly accepted. The scientific field and course requirements may cause a change in the format but the most important thing in a lab report is that it can communicate the reason for its preparation, the methods to be followed, and the findings achieved by the experiment.

A simple and most accepted format of a lab report should consist of the following: a title, abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, conclusion, references, and appendices. However, the overall lab report structure is flexible meaning some of the parts of the report can easily be omitted while other sections can be merged into one while will solely depend on the instructions provided for the task.

Step of preparing a lab report.

• The title: while preparing a lab report, its title is very crucial since it will give your assignment its first impression. Hence, the title that you provide should catchy enough while still being able to communicate the real purpose or focus of the study. It is completely fine and understandable if the title you provide for the lab report is not provoking, interesting, or creative. However, it is very important that the lab report's title is very informative and has the power to convey the results of the experiments.
• An abstract: in the lab report preparation, an abstract will play the role of providing a summarized version of the report from the lab in words not exceeding 300 and not less than 150. After the reader has read the summary of the lab report, they can be able to have a clear understanding of the main aim, raw materials, methods, results, and conclusion of the research even before they start reading the lab report's introduction. It will act as a framework or a synopsis of the whole lab report which will assist the reader to decide whether there is a need to read the whole report or if it would be a waste of time.

The best way to write the abstract is in the past tense since it will be a recap of all the things that have happened during the experiment. Thus, the abstract should be written after the report has been prepared and concluded. This will be advantageous since it will be a summary of what you have written in the report.

• Introduction: the introduction of the report is very important since it will be responsible for setting the lab reports stage thus it should provide a very comprehensive spectrum. It should also comprise the detailed background information of the topic of study while also providing its importance in theory or the real world.

The introduction will also consist of literature that exists on the specific area of study and how your study will either support, expand, or fill existing gaps in the field. Also, it will include the purpose and expectations of the study. Its length is not specified but it should fulfill its purpose.

• Method: in the process of preparing a lab report, the method part will be the backbone of the report. In this section, you will have to provide the exact and accurate details on all the steps you took while gathering and analyzing data in the lab. while indicating the method, it is highly recommended that the information provided be detailed and accurate so that it can be of assistance to anyone who would like to also carry out the procedure.

It is also written in past tense and provides the design of the experiment, materials, subjects, and procedures used in the collection and analyzing data in the report.

• Results: After explaining the method and procedure used, the outcome of the experiment will be recorded in the results section. In this section, a statistical analysis carried out during the experiment will be indicated. The section will also indicate whether the experiment has supported the theory behind it or it disproves.
• Discussion: in this section, you will be required to prove to the lecturer or professor that you fully comprehend the process of the experiment and also prove your critical thinking ability. It also interprets the findings assisting you to compare them with your expectation for the study.
• Conclusion: it is the end of the report and a summary of the results of the experiment is done. Limitations, strengths, and implications of the study can also be included.
• References: the section will provide a list of all the sources cited in the experiment. The formatting of the references will be determined by the instructions provided.
• Appendices: all materials used in the experiment will appear here. Procedures, figures, and a table will be in this list.

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