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Introduction
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The Laboratory Report
Use the following design when writing formal lab reports. Although many lab reports will not be formal ones, you are expected to know the details of this design and to understand the logical sequence of ideas within it.
Title A concise statement of the problem
Introduction Optional in chemistry and physics; generally required in biology: A statement of objectives or a hypothesis may be necessary if the TITLE does not fully describe the problem being studied. The hypothesis is what you think will happen during the investigation. It differs from a guess in that it is based upon prior knowledge or evidence. It should be supported by previously developed evidence and/or concepts.
Materials Lists of materials used are generally required in our biology experiments. In chemistry and physics, include this section only if you have actively taken part in the design of the experiment and the selection of materials.
Procedure Write a procedure only if you have actively taken part in the process of designing the experiment, otherwise state the source of the procedure. Explain, with diagrams, what you did in order to collect the DATA. You should understand and be able to apply the principles involved in running a controlled experiment. You are encouraged to identify the assumptions upon which the experiment is based.
Quantitative Data Evidence collected during the experiment; numbers read directly from laboratory instruments (clocks, rulers, balances, etc., but not calculators). Data should be well organized and tabulated when possible. Use care in scale reading and use significant figures when taking measurements. Develop a sense of how much data is desirable. Understand the need for carrying out multiple experiments and strive to get reproducible data when practical. Do not hide or eliminate suspected faulty data but present it. Later, in your CONCLUSIONS, you may explain why you have decided not to use suspected errors in your analysis.
Qualitative Data Other forms of evidence, qualitative in nature, that may be useful in the interpretation of QUANTITATIVE DATA; for example, something unexpected that happened during the carrying out of the PROCEDURE that may affect your CONCLUSIONS. In qualitative experiments which are frequently carried out in biology, these observations may be the only form of evidence collected. Then a RESULTS section may be unnecessary, and CONCLUSIONS will be based upon the QUALITATIVE DATA.
Calculations Use illustrations (sample problems) to show how you converted DATA into RESULTS. You are encouraged to use calculators and computers. Computer programs or spreadsheets used in the analysis should appear in this section. Use significant figures in calculations involving measurements. Use units as well as numbers in all calculations. Use dimensional analysis to accomplish this. Write equations of any straight lines from graphs of experimental DATA or RESULTS.
Results The final form in which the evidence is prepared. You perform CALCULATIONS on the DATA in order to develop RESULTS. Your CONCLUSIONS should be understandable by looking at your RESULTS. Tabulate results of primary variables in a meaningful order. Graph variables to detect general trends. When possible (if y=mx+b), supply equations of these graphs. Understand the gain in information and usefulness when results are converted into systematic tables, graphs, and finally equations.
Conclusions Contain the answers to the problem stated in the TITLE and INTRODUCTION. Base your conclusions on your RESULTS, not despite them. Look for more than one conclusion to the problem, with suggestions for further work in order to differentiate these at a later date. It is not necessary to do the further work. Understand that conclusions from one experiment usually form the hypotheses to new experiments. Explain experimental errors that appear in the results. Show an awareness of the limitations of the results when making generalizations. In more complicated problems, or when results are ambiguous, provide a discussion section to explain the rationale behind the conclusions.
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