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LabFormat

Standard Lab Report Format

A standard lab report should have a cover page on top of the lab report, followed by any attachments. If you had partners, identify them on your cover page as well (put their names below yours and indicate they are your partners). There are five basic sections for a typical lab report. Each part of the lab report should start with a bold, numbered heading as shown below.

1. Hypothesis (or Hypotheses or Purpose(s) or Objective(s) )
   Make a numbered list of your hypotheses/purposes/objectives. Be clear and to the point (i.e., state objective or hypotheseis in a single, clearly worded sentence). If you have more than one major purpose, make a numbered list.
2. Materials
   Make a bullet list. Include diagrams of equipment setup, if necessary.
3. Procedure
   Make a numbered list. Decide beforehand how much detail is needed by the reader. Less detail is better. If you can attach and refer to a pre-existing procedure, do it! Refer to the equipment diagram from the previous section.
4. Data & Analysis
   DO NOT include a mass of raw data in this section of the lab report. You may include your neatly organized raw data as an attachment that to which you refer.
   DO NOT include every calculation in this sections. However, you should include sample calculations to describe the analytical process you use to reach your final conclusions. You can include detailed calculations, if necessary, in an attachment to which you refer. You should clearly explain the process/meaning of the calcualtions as you introdeuce them (provide a narrative "story" for the reader to follow).
   DEFINITELY include graphs, diagrams, or other top-level methods to help visualize the data and the process you used to obtain your results. Be sure all graphs and diagrams are properly numbered ("a.", "b.", "c.", etc.) and labeled with a descriptive caption. If you include a graph or diagram, YOU MUST refer to it in the body of your report at least once.
   You will probably have one of more brief narrative descriptions followed by a graph or diagram. You may or may not have long narrative (essay) portion in this section of the report--you need to use your judgment (or ask for feedback on a draft)
5. Results and Conclusions
   This section is the "essay". Use all of your skills from English class! Analyze your audience, organize your thoughts/arguments, and write using paragraphs with topic sentences. Use table or diagrams to emphasize key results, if needed. Don't keep the reader in suspense until the end - I favor a direct approach, followed by supporting arguments.
   This section is arguably the most important part of your lab report. Your goal is to inform the reader how well the experimental data and your analysis of that data either supports or does not support your hypothesis. Keep to the point as you provide the "answers" to the "questions" that you posed in the hypotheseis or purpose ( Section 1 of the report).

   • Exactly how does your analsys of the data appear to support (or not support) your hypothesis?
   • What did you learn from the experiment?
   • Did anything unusual happen (good or bad)? What was the impact on your experiment/data?
   • Discuss sources of error and explain the potential impact on the conclusions you reached.
   • Is there a way you could re-design the experiment, procedure, or equipment to achieve better results?

Some additional notes about attachments, diagrams, tables, and graphs...

• All should be sequentially numbered and include a brief, but descriptive, titles or captions.
• If you do not refer to the attachments, diagrams, tables, or graph in somewhere in your narrative discussion, then IT MUST NOT BE VERY IMPORTANT!!! (At least that is what your reader will think). So be sure to refer to your attachments, diagrams, tables, and graphs at least once in your report (or don't include it if it is not useful)