How to write a Lab Report

How to write a Lab Report

What is a Lab Report?

Simply put, a lab report is a way to explain what you have done in an experiment. You describe the results you obtained and then discuss what you learned. Critical to writing an effective lab report is to have a crystal clear idea of what you are trying to achieve.

There are several ways to write a lap report and depending on your class or instructor, the requirements will vary. Below is the basic structure of a laboratory report.

The structure of a laboratory report can be basically divided into the following sections:

1. Procedure – What was done, and How
2. Results – What the findings were.
3. Discussion – The author’s interpretation of these findings.
4. Conclusion – A summary of the report’s findings. How to write a lab report

1. Procedure

As scientists, documentation of procedures is very important. Among other things, it helps readers of your work to understand, replicate or expand your research work.

2. Results

The procedures from your work will lead to results – positive or negative but results nonetheless. This section should contain an impartial description of what your experiment achieved. Note that the description of your findings must be impartial (bias free) irrespective of your emotional attachment to the subject or your proposed solution. Also note that the result section of a lab report is not the right place to engage in the interpretation of the results. This section should feature raw data only, to be processed later. How to write a Lab Report

3. Discussion

Having done your test, carried out your experiment(what you did), captured the procedure(how you did it) and the results(the outcome), the discussion section is the place to answer a series of questions that the previous sections might have raised. Example of such arising questions are the following:

1. What do the results mean?
2. How can the test be advanced even further?
3. What is the relevance of these results?
4. Did you discover something new or unexpected?

Maximize your discussion section to evaluate any potential real-world applications of your experiment. For example:

1. How can it be applied to address existing problems?
2. Could you commercialize the solution?

4. Conclusion

Once you have recorded your procedures, findings and discussed all above, it’s time to wrap up the report. Use a conclusion to create a brief summary of what the experiment was, how it was done and what was achieved. This section should not exceed three paragraphs.

In conclusion, laboratory report is sort of a story telling so you should write your report

1. In a story-like way;
2. With well structured events and;
3. A logical flow of information

Thank you for reading.

References & Credits

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