KISII UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT: MEDICAL PHYSIOLOGY

HOW TO WRITE A LABORATORY REPORT

Components of a laboratory report
1) Title page; title
2) Objectives
3) Abstract / Introduction; Principle
4) Materials
5) Methods/ Procedure
6) Results/Observations
7) Discussion
8) Clinical relevance/Conclusion
9) References

1. TITLE PAGE/TITLE
COMPONENTS:
 INSTITUTION NAME
 SCHOOL NAME
 COURSE NAME
 DEPARTMENT NAME
 UNIT NAME; UNIT CODE
 PRACTICAL NAME
 YOUR NAME
 YOUR ADMISSION NUMBER
 TECHNOLOGISTS NAME
 DATE DONE
 DATE SUBMITTED
NB: Mention all the titles for the practical undertaken

2. OBJECTIVES
What you intend to do during the practical
Eg To estimate hemoglobin levels in a blood sample

3. ABSTRACT
Summarizes important parts of a laboratory report. Describes the:
 Purpose of the experiment
 Methods and materials
 Results and the significance of results

4. INTRODUCTION
Explains the theoretical background of the experiment. Describes the topic under study and the theory that is relevant to
understanding of the findings. Show your understanding of the experiment by briefly explaining the topic under study.
Describes the different methods that have been used before and what you intend to use to, method principle and the normal
reference ranges.
PRINCIPLE: mention the principles involved in your test methods. Should be available on laboratory manuals.
The introduction covers at least 3 paragraphs.

5. MATERIALS
List all the equipment and apparatus, reagents or any other substances used in your experiment

6. METHODS
 Mention all the steps taken during the experiment, mention specific amount of material used to obtain
your results eg two drops were added to…
 Use past participle tense to describe you did exactly to obtain your results.
  Use the provided laboratory manual as a guideline to the steps undertaken during the experiment but
DO NOT COPY PASTE what the laboratory manuals states.
 Ensure that you use the materials listed in your methods, if an item was not listed as a requirement, it
should not be used in the method section.
NB: If written correctly other researchers should be able to duplicate the experiment and achieve the same or
very similar results.

7. RESULTS AND OBSERATIONS

o Show the data that was collected and found during the experiment. Explain in words the data that was
collected, use tables, charts, graphs figures, diagrams where applicable to present your results or
observations.
o Tables, figures should be labelled numerically as Table 1…, Figure 1…
o Show all the calculations that were done if at all there were any

8. DISCUSSION
 This section analyses the results of the experiment and is discussion of the data obtained from the
experiment.
 If there are any unexpected results, explain why they are so, state the errors involved in your experiment
that led to obtaining the unexpected results if any.
 Explain the strengths and weakness of the design of the experiment and compare you results to other
similar experiments or normal reference ranges
 Analyze any experimental errors if any.
 Use different terms and theories to explain and discuss your results
NB: This component answers the following questions:
 What do your results indicate
 What is the significance of your results (CLINICAL RELEVANCE)
 Are there any gaps in knowledge
 Are there any new questions that have been raised

9. CONCLUSION
Summary of experiment. Should be clear and concisely stating what was learnt and its importance. Suggest any
further works that need to be done and any suggestions for improvement. Explain them

10. REFERENCES
List any source used to support a claim or explain the background information.
Include details of the: Title of the book/page, author, year of publication, available URL, Page number for text
books… If another person wishes to access the same information, they will use the references given to access
the information.

COMPILED BY VUREMY IRENE

LABORATORY TECHNOLOGIST
DEPATMENT OF MEDICAL PHYSIOLOGY