DEFINITION OF LAB REPORT
A lab report conveys the aim, methods, results, and conclusions of a scientific
experiment.
The main purpose of a lab report is to demonstrate your understanding of the scientific
method by performing and evaluating a hands-on lab experiment. This type of
assignment is usually shorter than a research paper. Lab reports are commonly used in
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
What is a lab report?
Lab reports are written to describe and analyse a laboratory experiment that explores a
scientific concept.
They are typically assigned to enable you to:
Conduct scientific research.
Formulate a hypothesis/hypotheses about a particular stimulus, event, and/or behaviour.
Review relevant literature to justify your hypothesis.
Allow someone to replicate your study by providing precise details.
Apply statistics to test your hypothesis.
Explore theoretical explanations.
Evaluate research objectively and methodically.
Communicate concisely and precisely.
GOAL OF LAB REPORT
The goal of the lab report is to record every detail of the experiment, including its result.
By doing so, other professionals can analyse or understand the purpose of the
experiment that you did. If they want to perform the same experiment, then they can
refer to the original lab report and maybe compare the different findings in both
experiments.
Parts of Lab report
ABSTRACT: When writing an abstract, try to answer these questions:
Why was the research done or experiment conducted?
What problem is being addressed?
What results were found?
What is the meaning of the results?
How is the problem better understood now than before, if at all?
INTRODUCTION: Write the introduction in your own words. Try not to copy from a lab
manual or other guidelines. Instead, show comprehension of the experiment by briefly
explaining the problem.
METHODS AND MATERIALS: Always remember to list all the steps and procedure that
happened during the experiment, not as they supposed to happened. Also take note that
always list the exact amount of substance used in the experiment.
RESULTS: Take note that all the calculations that need to be understood can also be
presented in this part. It uses words to explain the results of the data collected.
DISCUSSION: Explain your results and discuss them using relevant terms and theories.
When writing a discussion, try to answer these questions:
What do the results indicate?
What is the significance of the results?
Are there any gaps in knowledge?
Are there any new questions that have been raised?
CONCLUSION: If future works will be conducted, it should be explained in this part.
REFERENCES: When there are no outside sources used, the reference section may be
left out.
I'm pretty sure it's obvious that when we write something, be it something formal or
informal, we should always watch how and what we write. Why? It's because if we write
something that only ourselves or a few people will understand, then how else would we
convey or spread information. If a teacher couldn't properly make a student understand
a certain lesson, then that might lead to (idk hindi magandang performance sa subject?).
That's the same with writing a lab report. One of a lab report's purpose is to let other
professional conduct the same experiment. How are they going to do that what they
have is a poor written lab report