Laboratory Report Outline: The Essential Parts of a Lab Report
Creating a laboratory report begins by preparing a plan and paper structure. You must describe the progress of the experiment, the materials used and the conclusions. Besides, the lab report requires references to resources and articles that you used. To properly structure the paper, you must prepare a lab report outline.
In the outline, you must make notes for each of the parts of a lab report. Using brainstorming, you will pick up a strong introduction and you can beautifully format your report. Remember that the right structure and following the requirements is half the success. Using our instructions, you will create an outline from scratch. Let’s find out how to write a lab report without stress.
The structure of a laboratory report: how to create it from scratch
A laboratory report is not a dry presentation of information about an experiment or study. In addition to presenting the facts and results of the study, you must show critical thinking skills. Describe your ideas about the causes of errors or discrepancies. Tell me how the experiment results differ from your expectations. Share your assumptions about the future course of the study.
To get high marks and pleasant words from the teacher, you must combine both the ability to structure data and analyze information. The filling of the paper should be as attractive as the structure. We have compiled a guide with the necessary components of a laboratory report. This will help you understand how to write a lab report and create quality paper from start to finish.
1. Title page
When creating an outline, you should start with a title page. Some teachers do not require the addition of a title page, however, this may play in your favor. It does not take much time, although it improves the appearance of a report. The front page will help you save important information about the time and duration of the experiment. Besides, this confirms your direct participation in the study.
Here are the necessary elements to be placed on the title page:
- The name of the study. The title should be concise and concise, reflect the essence of the experiment and sound powerful. In the future, you can specify only the name if you mention that lab report;
- The names of each of the experimenters. This is a confirmation of your direct participation in the project. By specifying names, you protect yourself from the theft of information in the report;
- The initials of your supervisor or teacher. This is usually indicated under the name of the participants;
- Date of the experiment and reporting. Thus, you will help both yourself and the teacher to distribute the work according to the date of publication.
2. Abstract
An abstract is a type of excerpt from the report. You must state your conclusions and conclusions to describe your research. This should take one paragraph and allow readers to understand the essence of the experiment. With the help of the abstract, a person decides whether he should read the full laboratory report.
Ideally, your abstract should consist of:
- The reason for the study. Explain what motivated you to make the experiment and what you expect from it;
- Findings. Tell us what you found during the experiment or after the end. Even if the result did not please you, write sincerely;
- The role of the experiment. You must assume the significance of research in people’s lives or science. Perhaps the issue you explored needs to be divulged or encouraged by others to experiment;
- General conclusions. Using two or three sentences, formulate a conclusion and assume the further course of the study of the problem;
- Links to credible sources. Sometimes students add links to materials that played a large role during the experiment.
3. Introduction
The introduction is the first of the parts of a lab report in terms of the whole text. Here you should present the research topic and the reasons why you experimented. You also need to add existing information about this issue. Add links to previous research and explain why that information is not enough. For an introduction to be complete and complete, it should include:
- Background to the experiment. Write down what prompted you to research and what reference points you used;
- Experiment concept. Add commonly used terms that you need to know to read a report;
- The purpose of the experiment. Explain the problem you want to solve with research;
- Questions that you discuss in the experiment. Describe the points that you discuss during the study.
4. Materials and methods
In other words, this is called equipment for an experiment. When compiling a lab report outline, pay attention to the materials used. Make notes to link to sources later. You must provide the reader with the necessary materials for a deeper understanding of the topic. Pay attention to the correct citation of sources.
By describing the methods, you allow readers to repeat the experiment or understand how it happened. Indicate the model of the experiment that you took as an example. Describe the progress of the study step by step so that it is clear to everyone. Add the formulas and theorems that helped your experiment. To put it another way, you must guide readers along the path of the experiment from beginning to end.
5. Experimental Part
The experimental part of the lab report should explain the actual course of the experiment. If in the previous section you need to take steps to complete the study, here you explain your own experience. Describe your experience and disagreement with the standard method. In this way, you will show what this or that change leads to. This will allow other experimenters to understand what changes will occur with a slight deviation from the course.
In the experimental part, you must to state do’s and don’ts when conducting the experiment. You help readers learn from the mistakes of others, and they will be grateful to you.
6. Results
The most important of the parts of a lab report is the results section. Here you should place the tables, graphs, and calculations that you received during the experiment. In addition to it, you must verbally express each parameter, citing theorems or properties. Here is a list of what your results should contain:
- Tables and graphs confirming the received data. Check that each cell is filled out correctly so that readers are not misled;
- Describe the errors and what caused them. Tell us why you got such a result of measurements and what factors influenced it;
- The order in which the final task answer is determined. Describe in detail the calculations and calculations that led to the answer. Explain why the resulting number may be slightly different from the correct answer.
from the correct answer.
Describe all the results obtained, no matter if they support the theory or not.
7. Discussion
Discussion is the most significant part of the lab report. In this section, you must show your understanding of the problem and approaches to solving it. Explain your assumptions and goals when conducting the study. This should show that you want to solve the problem, not just investigate it. To do this, you need to analyze the data obtained, evaluate their reliability and significance for the further course of the study.
Here is a list of items that should be present in the discussion section:
- List of received data. Describe the findings and results;
- Analysis of information. Explain what the results mean and what conclusions can be drawn from them;
- Interpretation and assessment of significance. Evaluate the relevance of the study to discuss that topic;
- Identification of errors and causes. Assume a logical explanation of inconsistencies or problems encountered during the study;
- Suggestions for optimizing research. Share ideas for improving the experiment and further research.
8. Conclusion
A conclusion should look similar to the laboratory report outline. This is usually a single paragraph that summarizes the results of an experiment. Tell us briefly about the progress of the experiment, your expectations, and the results. Share ideas for further research on that subject. You can also tell whether the result of the experiment matches the standard model or theory that you took as an example.
9. References
Make a list of the literature you used in your lab report. Pay attention to the required paper size. This determines the quoting and sorting standards for cited resources. Therefore, you should learn about format requirements from your supervisor. Using resources, make notes with the name of the author and the name of the work. When compiling references, indicate the date of publication of the article and the page on which the necessary information is located.
10. Appendices
In this part of a lab report, you can put additional information. This does not apply directly to the experiment, but may be useful. Here you can add experiment details that did not affect the result. Describe the methods that you tried but did not apply during the experiment. Also, you may add drawings and diagrams that help to understand the study. This does not fit into the Methods section, but it will not be redundant to read.
11. Further reading
Make a list of sources and studies that will help expand your understanding of the lab report. In this section, you can specify the names of existing works without fear of plagiarism. You should provide the reader with additional data to research the topic deeply. This will increase your reputation with the audience and the teacher.
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