How To Write A Lab Report (Page 3 of 4) in pdf

o Someone should be able to replicate your study after reading the details of your

description.

o However, do not include techniques that EVERY biologist should know.

• See the statistics appendix for help in determining the appropriate statistical test to use

in analyzing your data.

Results: Pechnik, Ch. 6, 9

• This section presents your research findings.

• State overall trends and patterns; DO NOT compare every single number with other

numbers unless they do not follow a certain trend.

• Write a least one paragraph prior to your figures and/or tables. This paragraph should

serve as a roadmap that walks the reader through the data (figures and/or tables).

• Refer to your specific figures/tables within the text of your results section. Your

figures/texts should be arranged in the order in which you refer to them in the text of

your paper.

• In this paragraph you should include:

- Averages for each of your conditions (with some measure of variation)

- Figure legends should include the following: identifications of study subjects,

sample size and description of what the figure depicts.

- Your figures should include all data, even if you recorded 0 as a measurement

- Graph axes should be labelled, with units of measurement

- Line graphs: are often useful for one time counts of something. Averages (not

individual data points) are presented on bar graphs.

- You should include error bars on your bar graphs and indicate what they

represent (standard deviation [SD], standard error or mean [SEM], or confidence

interval [CI]).

- Once again, you should not include standard deviation (or standard error) bars

when your data represent total counts of things. You should include bars when

your data represent averages of things.

Discussion: Pechenik, Ch. 6 and 9

• You should give a background statement, followed by your question, hypothesis, and

prediction.

• Compare your experimental results with those of other studies; cited these studies (they

may have already been mentioned in your introduction).

• End with:

o Stating possible sources of error, even if your study turned out as predicted (ex.

small sample size, short duration of study, etc.). You should not state a source of

error, however, without describing how that would influence your results. Do not

say, “We measured incorrectly.” Instead, say, “Because people measured different

lengths, there could have been some variation in how lengths were interpreted.

However, person A and person B both collected data for the control and

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