Lab Reports/Primary Research Reports

Lab reports present primary research, no matter whether the data were gathered in a physical lab or in the field. A lab report is the opposite of a secondary research report, such as a technical background report, in which you present information gathered from other sources that offer their own interpretations of someone’s data.

Lab reports present your data and conclusions, and also discuss how you went about the experiment, survey, interview, or observation. In other words, you enable your reader to replicate your experiment, or at least visualize quite specifically how you went about it.

Preparing for an Experiment and Resultant Lab Report

To prepare for a lab experiment and the resultant report, consider the following questions:

  • Why is this research important? How does it solve a problem or contribute in some way to expanding human knowledge?
  • What have other researchers already discovered about this? How are you contributing to this conversation?
  • What gaps are there in our knowledge about this topic?
  • Why have you chosen this methodology to test your hypothesis? What limitations might it have?
  • How and why do you derive these inferences from the data you have collected?
  • What further research should be done? Why?

Also remember that lab reports are based on the work you have done in the lab or original work you have done in the field. Therefore, you must have a plan for keeping careful notes on what you have done, how you have done it, and what you observed. You may want to maintain a notebook, digital document, or personal blog.  You may want to pre-design tables or charts to record the data you know you will be observing—your own lab manual to use while completing a particular experiment to record your observations and data in a pre-organized format. Try to plan ahead so that you can capture as much information as possible during your research; don’t rely only on memory to record important procedures, results, observations, and conclusions.

Writing a Lab Report

The content and format for a lab report depends on your audience and purpose. How you write the results of a scientific experiment will generally follow a standard pattern, but may vary depending on audience and purpose. Remember that science writing generally focuses on observable results, so the results and discussion are usually the most developed parts of a lab report. Lab reports typically contain the following elements:

Title

Create a descriptive and informative title that helps readers understand at a glance the type of research and information in the report. A title also needs key words for indexing.

Abstract

An abstract summarizes your information and mirrors your report structure (Hypothesis, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion) in condensed form—roughly one sentence or so per section.

Introduction/Hypothesis

Explain the context and significance of your work, its relevance in the field, and the hypothesis or question your study addresses. Give a brief overview of your methodology for testing your hypothesis and why it is appropriate. If necessary for your readers, provide a specialized theoretical framework, background or technical knowledge to help them understand your focus and how it contributes to the field.

Materials and Methods

This section has two key purposes. First, it must allow any reader to perfectly replicate your methodology; therefore, you must thoroughly describe what you used and how you conducted your experiment. Second, you must persuade your reader that your chosen methodology and the materials are appropriate and valid for testing your hypothesis, and will lead to credible and valid results. This section generally includes 1) a list of all materials you used, which may include sub-lists, diagrams, and other graphic; and 2) a detailed description of your procedure, presented chronologically.

Results

The results section presents the raw data that you generated in your experiment, and provides the evidence you need to form conclusions about your hypothesis. Present only the data that are relevant to your results. If you omit data, you may have to explain why they are not relevant.

Organize this section either chronologically, following your methodology, or from most to least important, based on the importance of data in proving (or negating) the hypothesis. Present data visually whenever possible, using tables, graphs, flowcharts, or any type of appropriate visual to help readers understand your data. Make sure you present the data honestly and ethically; do not distort or obscure data to make it better fit your hypothesis. If data are inconclusive or contradictory, be honest about that. Avoid interpreting or explaining your data in the Results section, as interpretation belongs in the Discussion.

Discussion

The discussion section includes your analysis and interpretation of the data you presented in the Results section in terms of how well it supports your original hypothesis. Start with the most important findings. It is perfectly fine to acknowledge that the data you have generated is problematic or fails to support the hypothesis. If your findings are inconsistent, try to suggest possible reasons for this. You can also make recommendations in the discussion section, as well as discuss the need for further research.

Conclusion

In a few short paragraphs, review the overall purpose of your study and the hypothesis you tested, then summarize your key findings and the important implications. This is your opportunity to persuade the audience of the significance of your work.

References

List all references you have cited in your report (e.g., those you may have included to provide a theoretical framework, or sources that help justify your methodology).

Optional Sections

There are a few sections that you may want to include in lab reports, depending on your purpose, audience, and context.

Appendices

Include in an appendix any information that does not fit within the body of the report, but still adds valuable information to your report. While you may have summarized data in the results section of the report, you may want to include full data tables in an appendix. You may also include logs, calculations, or notes on analytical methods. Be sure to refer to your appendices in the body of your report to let readers know there is additional information.

Literature Review

If it makes sense within the context of your lab report, given your purpose and audience, you may want to summarize the literature related to your project—relevant books, journal articles, websites. For example, if you’re doing a study of speech recognition software, what articles have already been written on that subject? What do they have to say about the merits of certain software? As much as possible, use research that has undergone peer review, a process during which a group of acknowledged professionals in the field review the validity of article content. A literature review summarizes key research that has been published about a specific topic, to show current thinking in the field as well as gaps in knowledge or contradictory results.

Acknowledgements

As appropriate, formally express appreciation for any assistance you have received while preparing the report (e.g., financial/funding support, help from colleagues or your institution).

Writing Style

For scientists and engineers to make valuable contributions to the sum of human knowledge, they must be able to convince readers that their findings are valid, replicable, and valuable. The way that you write a lab report impacts the credibility and authority of your work; people will judge your work partly on how you present it. Even lab reports have a persuasive edge and must make careful use of rhetorical strategies. Careless writing, poor organization, ineffective document design, and lack of attention to convention may cast doubt on your authority and expertise, and thus on the value of your work.

Also note that traditionally, writers in the sciences have used passive voice to de-emphasize their role in the process and emphasize the materials and actions they used. However, this convention is changing; active voice is clearer and more concise. If you’re writing for publication in a specific venue, or to report your work to a particular organization, check out style conventions that other writers are applying.

Sample Lab Reports