How to Write a Lab Report

Lab Report

A lab report is how you explain what you did in your experiment, what you learned, and what the results
meant.

Lab Report Essentials

Title Page

Not all lab reports have title pages, but if your instructor wants one, it would be a single page that states:
•The title of the experiment.
•Your name and the names of any lab partners.
•Your instructor's name.
•The date the lab was performed or the date the report was submitted.
Title

The title says what you did. It should be brief (aim for ten words or less) and describe the main point of the
experiment or investigation. An example of a title would be: "Effects of Ultraviolet Light on Borax Crystal Growth
Rate". If you can, begin your title using a keyword rather than an article like "The" or "A".
Introduction or Purpose

Usually, the introduction is one paragraph that explains the objectives or purpose of the lab. In one sentence,
state the hypothesis. Sometimes an introduction may contain background information, briefly summarize how
the experiment was performed, state the findings of the experiment, and list the conclusions of the investigation.
Even if you don't write a whole introduction, you need to state the purpose of the experiment, or why you did it.

Materials

List everything needed to complete your experiment.

Methods

Describe the steps you completed during your investigation. This is your procedure. Be sufficiently detailed that
anyone could read this section and duplicate your experiment. Write it as if you were giving direction for
someone else to do the lab. It may be helpful to provide a figure to diagram your experimental setup.
Data

Numerical data obtained from your procedure usually presented as a table. Data encompasses what you recorded
when you conducted the experiment. It's just the facts, not any interpretation of what they mean.

Results

Describe in words what the data means. Sometimes the Results section is combined with the Discussion.

Discussion or Analysis

The Data section contains numbers; the Analysis section contains any calculations you made based on those
numbers. This is where you interpret the data and determine whether or not a hypothesis was accepted. This is
also where you would discuss any mistakes you might have made while conducting the investigation. You may
wish to describe ways the study might have been improved.

Conclusions

Most of the time the conclusion is a single paragraph that sums up what happened in the experiment, whether
your hypothesis was accepted or rejected, and what this means.
Figures and Graphs

Graphs and figures must both be labeled with a descriptive title. Label the axes on a graph, being sure to include
units of measurement.

References

If your research was based on someone else's work or if you cited facts that require documentation, then you
should list these references.
The Report Writing Format Outline

Every good report needs to start with an outline. Use the outline below to set yourself up for success when putting
all your information together for the final report.

At each point of the outline, use one or two sentences to describe what will go in there. It doesn’t need to say
much, just an idea for you to follow later.

In the Appendices section, list all the links to the sources you used and add on as you do more research. Every
source you reference in your report must be listed here.

The most important part of your outline is the Body section. In there, create an internal outline of sections and
subsections that you can follow later when writing.
The Preferred Report Writing Format

After you’ve drafted the outline, it’s time to put together all of the content into the report. The outline we
provided above is the only report writing format you’ll ever need. You can add sections if needed but don’t take
any away.

Let’s take a look at every section in detail.

1. Title
The title of your report should be clear in its wording. It must say exactly what the report is about. Remember that
this isn’t a novel. Include a subtitle if necessary, making sure the font size of each subtitle is smaller than the title.
2. Table of Contents
Always leave the Table of Contents page until the end. You can’t write a table of contents if you don’t know all
of your page numbers yet.
However, if your Body outline already has each of your section and subsection titles defined, you can add those
to the contents and leave the numbering for later.
3. Summary
Likewise, the summary of the report is best done after you’ve finished writing the report. You can draft a
summary at the beginning to help you continue with the work, but you’ll definitely want to revisit it at the end.
It must include the purpose, the process and a snippet of the resolution.
4. Introduction

In the introduction, state what the report is about and why it has been created. Depending on the length of the
report, the introduction is a paragraph to an entire page long.
For example, one paragraph is enough for a social media report introduction while an entire page would be more
suitable for an annual report.

5. Body

The body of your report is where all the information is put together. Follow your initial outline to maintain
consistent flow in the content creation. Write its content as sections and subsections.
Furthermore, use bullet points and data visualizations. These will help your audience to better understand the
content of your report.

6. Conclusion

Close your report with a well crafted conclusion. Formulate it as a brief summary of what was covered within the
report, and be sure to include a mention to the recommendations section and the resources in the appendix.
7. Recommendations
Craft the recommendations section as a set of actionable steps with smart goals associated along with possible
solutions. This section is irrelevant for school reports or book reports, but is essential in a business setting.

8. Appendices
This is the section where you list all sources if it’s a research report. You should also add any links that are relevant
to the report – or previous reports about the same topic.

A good rule of thumb when creating your appendices is to only add information that is relevant to the report or that
you referenced when writing your report. Use reference annotations inside the report to link to the content in the
appendix.

How to Create Professional Reports and Documents in Microsoft Word

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/writing-professional-reports-documents/
https://www.openpolytechnic.ac.nz/current-students/study-tips-and-techniques/assignments/how-to-write-a-report/
HOW TO WRITE A THESIS

What is a thesis?

A thesis is a statement, theory, argument, proposal or proposition, which is put forward as a premise to be
maintained or proved.
It explains the stand someone takes on an issue and how the person intends to justify the stand. It is always
better to pick a topic that will be able to render professional help, a topic that you will be happy to talk about with
anybody, a topic you have personal interest and passion for, because when writing a thesis gets frustrating
personal interest, happiness and passion coupled with the professional help it will be easier to write a great
thesis (see you through the thesis).
One has to source for a lot of information concerning the topic one is writing a thesis on in order to know the
important question, because for you to take a good stand on an issue you have to study the evidence first.
Structure of a Thesis

The introduction:

The introduction is the first section and it provides as the name implies an introduction to the thesis. The
introduction contains such aspects as the background to the study which provides information on the topic in
the context of what is happening in the world as related to the topic. It also discusses the relevance of the
topic to society, policies formulated success and failure.

The introduction also contains the statement of the problem which is essentially a succinct description of the
problem that the thesis want to solve and what the trend will be if the problem is not solved. The concluding
part of the statement of problem ends with an outline of the research questions. These are the questions
which when answered helps in achieving the aim of the thesis.

The third section is the outline of research objectives. Conventionally research objectives re a conversion the
research questions into an active statement form. Other parts of the introduction are a discussion of
hypotheses (if any), the significance of the study, delimitations, proposed methodology and a discussion of the
structure of the study(RE: write a thesis or writing a thesis).

The main body includes the following; the literature review, methodology, research results and discussion of
the result, the summary, conclusion and recommendations, the list of references and the appendices.
The literature review:

The literature review is often the most voluminous aspects of a thesis because it reviews past empirical and
theoretical literature about the problem being studied.

This section starts by discussing the concepts relevant to the problem as indicated in the topic, the relationship
between the concepts and what discoveries have being made on topic based on the choice of methodologies.
The validity of the studies reviewed are questioned and findings are compared in order to get a comprehensive
picture of the problem.

The literature review also discusses the theories and theoretical frameworks that are relevant to the problem, the
gaps that are evident in literature and how the thesis being written helps in resolving some of the gaps.

The major importance of Literature review is that it specifies the gap in the existing knowledge (gap in literature).

The source of the literature that is being reviewed should be specified. The author’s name can be at the beginning,
end or in between the literature. The literature should be discussed and not just stated (RE: write a thesis or
writing a thesis).
The methodology:

The third section is a discussion of the RM adopted in the thesis and touches on aspects such as the research
design, the area, population and sample that will be considered for the study as well as the sampling procedure.
These aspects are discussed in terms of choice, method and rationale.

This section also covers the sub- section of data collection, data analysis and measures of ensuring validity of
study. It is the chapter 3. This chapter explains the method used in data collection and data analysis. It explains the
methodology adopted and why it is the best method to be used, it also explains every step of data collection and
analysis. The data used could be primary data or secondary data. While analyzing the data, proper statistical tool
should be used in order to fit the stated objectives of the thesis.

The findings and discussion of result:

The next section is a discussion of findings based on the data collection instrumentation used and the objectives
or hypotheses of study if any. It is the chapter 4. It is research results.

This is the part that describes the research. It shows the result gotten from data that is collected and analysed. It
discusses the result and how it relates to your profession.
Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation:

This is normally the chapter 5. The last section discusses the summary of the study and the conclusions arrived
at based on the findings discussed in the previous section.

This section also presents any policy recommendations that the researcher wants to propose (RE: write a thesis
or writing a thesis).

References:

It cite all ideas, concepts, text, data that are not your own. It is acceptable to put the initials of the individual
authors behind their last names. The way single author is referenced is different from the way more than one
author is referenced (RE: write a thesis or writing a thesis).

The appendices;

it includes all data in the appendix. Reference data or materials that is not easily available. It includes tables and
calculations, List of equipment used for an experiment or details of complicated procedures. If a large number of
references are consulted but all are not cited, it may also be included in the appendix. The appendices also
contain supportive or complementary information like the questionnaire, the interview schedule, tables and charts
while the references section contain an ordered list of all literature, academic and contemporary cited in the
thesis.