Scribd
Upload
19 views

Lab Report Guidelines

The document outlines the standard structure for a scientific lab report, including sections for the title, purpose, background/introduction, hypothesis, procedure, results, discussion, and conclusion. It provides details on what should be included in each section, such as stating the research question in the purpose, presenting data in tables and graphs in the results section, and summarizing the key findings and limitations in the conclusion.

Uploaded by

brodysewell
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
19 views

Lab Report Guidelines

The document outlines the standard structure for a scientific lab report, including sections for the title, purpose, background/introduction, hypothesis, procedure, results, discussion, and conclusion. It provides details on what should be included in each section, such as stating the research question in the purpose, presenting data in tables and graphs in the results section, and summarizing the key findings and limitations in the conclusion.

Uploaded by

brodysewell
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Scientific Lab Report Structure

Title: Precisely identifies the focus of the lab.


Purpose: Clearly state the research question that the experiment is designed to address.
Background/Introduction: Provide context and motivation for the experiment/study. Briefly explain
relevant theory in sufficient detail and introduce any relevant laws, equations or theorems.
Hypothesis: Predict the outcome of the experiment/study based on your background information. This
can be stated as an if/then statement.
Procedure: Describe your experimental design and what you actually did. A procedure includes:

• how apparatus and equipment were set up (e.g. experimental set-up), usually including a
diagram, dependent variable, independent variable and any controls/constants used,
• a list of materials used,
• steps used to collect the data,
• number of trials/replicates, and
• any experimental difficulties encountered and how they were resolved or worked around.

Results: Present the main data collected during your experiment. Each key measurement needs to be
reported appropriately. Data are often presented in graphs, figures or tables.

• Most numerical data (quantitative/numbers) are presented using tables or graphs. These need
to be labelled appropriately to clearly indicate what is shown. They should also have a caption
that gives a quick description of what they are showing the reader.
• Your report should include at least one data table and one graph.

Discussion: Demonstrate how well you understand what happened in the experiment. You should:

• comment on the results you obtained and identify any trends/patterns in the data
• compare the experimental results with any predictions (accept/reject hypothesis)
• reflect on your methods and identify how any sources of error might impact on the
interpretation of your results
• suggest explanations for unexpected results, and
• where appropriate, suggest how the experiment could have been improved.

Conclusion: Provide a take-home message summing up what has been learned from the experiment:

• briefly restate the purpose of the experiment (the question it was seeking to answer),
• identify the main findings (answer to the research question),
• note the main limitations that are relevant to the interpretation of the results, and
• summarize what the experiment has contributed to your understanding of the problem.
Modified from https://www.monash.edu/rlo/assignment-samples/science/science-writing-a-lab-report

You might also like