how to labrport.pdf

7/28/2019 how to labrport.pdf

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Guidelines for writing

Laboratory Report


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Introduction

We will focus on some essential

techniques needed to write a good

laboratory report


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Sections of a Laboratory Report

Cover page

Abstract

Introduction (including the objective(s) of experiment)

Materials & Methods

Results & Discussion

Conclusion or Implication

Answers to questions provided in the laboratory

manual

References

Appendices


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Abstract

Start with motivation or justification (if space

allows)

State the objective, aim, or purpose

Summarize essential materials & method

Summarize important results

End with important conclusions & impact


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Abstract

Write abstract last

Make the abstract stand alone

No references

Limit use of abbreviations

Standard ones do not need definition

Dont use, if only 1 or 2 times

Be clear, specific, and concise (200-250 words) Used in abstracting journals (therefore, must

be informative)


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Abstract

Indicative or Informative?

Indicative : Indicates objectives of the research

and suggest results in general terms

Makes the reader want to read your paper because it

mightbe interesting

Informative: states objectives and support your

conclusion with data

Makes the reader want to read your paper because it is

interesting


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Introduction

Motivation and Justification

Objectives and Approach

General

Specific


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use past tense because the research activity has

already been completed

Examples

The aim of the this investigation was to determine..The purpose of this research to study.

The purpose of this study to provide.

The present study an attempt to provide

Objective(s)


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Materials and Method

To give some kind of overall description of

the experiment, providing the big picture

(without repeating the experimental

details)


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Materials and Methods

Include enough information, but not more

than necessary, so that

Research can be repeated

Others can evaluate validity of your research

Give a clear, complete description for

biological materials, analytical and statistical

procedures

Organize methods logically and accurately


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Content

What did you observe?

For each experiment/procedure

Briefly describe experiment

(without details of methodsection, a sentence or two)

Report (describe) main result(s)

- Supported by the selected data

(do not repeat table data)

- Representative data (mostcommon)

- Best case data best

example of ideal or

exception

Requirements, advise

Order multiple results

logically

From most to leastimportant

From simple to complex

Organ by organ, chemical

class by chemical class, etc

Results and Discussion section


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Briefly describe experiment

Examples:

The concentrations of reducing sugars in the par-fried

potato strips were measured to verify that the

concentrations were within the range commonlyfound in practice. Table 1 shows that .

The serving size and oil volume were measured to

obtain insight into the actual product/oil ratio used by

the restaurants. The weight of three servings (datanot shown) was added to obtain portion size. Table 4

shows that.


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Example 1 - Best case data

Table 1: Chemical composition of sweetpotato roots (% on dry weight basis)

Ash 2.11 0.0318

Crude Protein 4.51 0.249

Crude Fibre 2.29 0.0862

Crude Fat 0.814 0.0729

Carbohydrate 90.3 0.313

Moisture Content 65.3 0.971

Text :

Unedited

The chemical composition of

sweet potato roots was shown in

Table 1. Low protein, fat and

fibre levels were found in the

root. However, high

carbohydrates content make up

90 % of the dry weight of sweet

potato roots.

Edited

Table 1 shows that the

carbohydrate content in sweet

potato was the highest (90.3%),

followed by moisture content

(65.3%).


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Example 2 - Best case data

Table 1: Mean (standard deviation) acrylamideconcentration (gkg-1) in deep fried sweet potatochips

Palm

olein

Coconut

oil

Canola oil Soya

bean oil

1447(73)a 1724(62)b 1729(31)b 2019(60)c

How to describe the results?

Table 3 shows that there was a

significant difference in acrylamide

concentration between palm olein

and soya bean oil (p


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Some tips!

Few determinations give the results in text.

Avoid extra words: It is shown in Table 1 that X induced

Y Table 1 shows that X induced Y


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Tenses?

Past tense

use past tense forunpublished result (what the

author found)

In the present study, the the

setting of frying time

rangedfrom 150 to 165

seconds and it

correspondedwith the

actual frying time (150-165seconds).

Present tense to refer the

reader to your table/figure

(an explanatory aids, not the

research itself)

Figure 1 shows that the

mean of loge transformed

acrylamide concentration of

French fries differed (past

tense to refer to results)

among the three FSE types.


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How to write the Discussion

Content

This section explains the

implication of your results

It positions your results intothe context of the fields by

relating your results to

other work, both theoretical

and experimental

Requirements, advise

Step back and take a broad

look at your findings and

your study as a whole


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First, a review of the most important finding

(whether or not they support the hypothesis, and they agreewith the findings of other researchers)

Find the reference values from previous research (books,articles, journal) and compare them with the experimentalvalue (i.e., relating your results to other work; experimental)

Examples :

Table 1 shows that the carbohydrate content in sweet potatowas the highest (90.3%), followed by moisture content(65.3%). The results are in agreement with other studies whoreported carbohydrate content in sweet potato ...


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Next, provide justification (or speculation)

(why changes in WTC lead to changes in WTO)Give evidence to defend (or to explain) your

experimental value (i.e., relating your results to

other work; theoretical)Support you explanation of results with literature

(find the relevant literature to explain your results)


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Tenses?Past tense when the

explanation for the specific

findings is restricted to your

study

Another reason might be

that food handlers were

not yet familiar with frying

instructions, although they

practicedfrying in the

training session to createfamiliarity.

Present tense it refers to

general conditions

It is possible that short

frying time limits the

formation of acrylamide,

because frying ends

before


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Tenses?Present tense when

comparing your findings to

those of other researchers.

Our findings on the frying

practices are consistentwith other studies that

surveyed the actual frying

conditions.

The median reported in this

study is consistent with

Mills and co-authors (2009)

who found the median

Modal auxiliaries to emphasize

the speculative nature of thestatement.

It ispossiblethat

Another reason might bethat


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Finally, Limitation of the study that restrict the extent to

which the findings can be generalized

Tense? - As step 3

Example- We only measuredthe (initial) frying temperatures, but

not the temperature drop over the frying time (Pasttense)

- Home preparation mayproduce different results(modal auxiliaries)


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References

Endnote?

Documents

how to labrport.pdf