All laboratory courses are inclusive of lab reports. Some instructors may give you the structure to use in your reports while others may not. Below is a Lab Report Format you can use if you are not sure how to go about it.
The title page
Some reports require a title page and others don’t. This will depend on your instructor’s needs. If a title page is required, it should include;
- The title of your experiment
- Your name and those of your lab partners
- The name of the instructor supervising the experiment
- The date of the experiment or report submission
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Title
The title highlights what your experiment is all about. However, it should be short, clear, and to the point. It should contain the main point of your investigation. It is advisable to start your title with a keyword.
Introduction
The title is followed by an introduction usually one paragraph which explains the purpose of the lab report. It is intended to explain where your report’s hypothesis comes from. It may contain some background information on how the experiment was conducted including the methods used and the results. The introduction also states the report’s hypothesis. If you do not have a hypothesis for your experiments, seek Lab Report Online Writing Services for some assistance.
Materials
List everything that is needed for your experiments such as questioners and standards of measure.
Methods
In the methods section, discuss the steps and procedures taken in your experiment. Each step should be well discussed with sufficient details. This should be drought out in a way that anyone can duplicate your experiments by just reading through the methods and procedures. As such, it should be written as if it is intended for someone who has no idea what a lab experiment is. For better understanding, include diagrams of your experiment.
Data
If there is numerical data from your experiment, it should be represented as a table in APA style. They are the facts and compose of what was recorded during the experiment. They are not the interpretation.
 Results
Since your data is in numerical form, it has to be explained in words. This section contains the descriptive statistics followed by the inferential statistics. These results should be inclusive of the means, standard deviation, and a 95% confidence interval for every IV level. Some Lab Report Examples may help you understand how to state your results.
 Analysis
From the data section, analysis is done based on the numbers in that section. From this analysis, the interpretation of the data and the experiment is made. This is meant to determine if the stated hypothesis is accepted or not.
The analysis section also contains the errors that may have been made during the experiment and any improvements made to the investigation.
Conclusions
Like the introduction, the conclusion of your lab report is a one-paragraph summary of the whole experiment. It states if the hypothesis was accepted or rejected by the results and why.
Figures and Graphs
If your experiment contains graphs, they must be well-labeled with a good title. The X and Y that exist should also be labeled and indicated each represents including the units of measurements. These graphs can also be linked to some figures sued in the procedure. Look at some Lab Report Samples and check how the graphs are represented.
References
If you used someone else’s work to come up with your experiment, or use data or facts from a certain source, ensure you list these in the reference section. This is mandatory unless one wants to face plagiarism charges.