An organized way to present the results of your practical work is in a science lab report. Before we continue, take not that our report writers are here to help you.
The following sections make up a typical lab report’s structure:
- Goal and Hypothesis – The rationale behind your practical job.
- Method – The practical work you did and the data processing you did.
- Results – What information, procedure, or end product did the practical work yield?
- Discussion – How your findings related to your objective and working hypothesis.
- Conclusion – What was the ultimate result of your practical work, and how does your conclusion fit into the body of knowledge of science as a whole?
The usual report writing approaches listed below can be used, but only after you have carefully reviewed the facts of your project. Students or rather writers frequently make the error of assuming that a conclusion part and a discussion portion are interchangeable.
You should summarize your report in the conclusion section. Typically, a conclusion is one paragraph long, or 200 to 300 words. A conclusion is very much like an abstract in this regard, with a stronger focus on the findings and analysis.
A conclusion never presents any novel concepts or findings. Instead, it offers a succinct review of the ones that were already covered in the study. When writing a conclusion, you should:
- Quickly restate the experiment’s goal (i.e., the question it sought to address).
- Identify the key findings.
- Write down the primary restrictions that affect how the results should be interpreted, and then summarize how the experiment has helped us understand the issue more broadly.
What is a conclusion?
The general findings of an experimental technique are discussed in a brief conclusion, which also clarifies whether the hypothesis put forth at the outset of the experiment was true or not.
Additional research or tests that may be conducted to corroborate your findings from the current experiment can also be covered in the conclusion. This section may alternatively be referred to as views.
Writing the Conclusion
Whether it is a lab report, research paper, or other type of document, the conclusion is sometimes the most challenging part to write along with the opening. This is typically due to the ambiguity around the content of conclusions. You could start to wonder: What should I say? Isn’t what needs to be communicated already covered? Why do I have to write a conclusion?
Though certain sections of the conclusion may seem repetitious, it’s necessary to highlight numerous important arguments and concerns expressed throughout the study. By the time they come to the end of your work, your reader might have forgotten a lot of important points, and some readers might never even finish it (they may just skim the paper). Similar to how a conclusion that refers back to the main objective or hypothesis gives the assignment some much-needed closure.
Formatting guidelines for the Conclusion
In scientific studies, the conclusion typically appears alone at the end of the document, while it is also possible for it to be combined with the discussion section. The discussion section offers more to the report than the analysis and evaluation sections do by situating the experiment in a real-world setting in addition to making technical contributions (by exploring what the specific findings mean and why they are important). This has a direct connection to the conclusion, which usually touches on related topics. Consequently, combining the two is occasionally necessary.
Additionally, A lengthy experiment with numerous variables might necessitate more focus throughout all portions than, say, a shorter lab experiment that only took a couple of hours or so. Additionally, a conclusion should generally agree with the research; sparse or underdeveloped conclusions are seldom encouraged. This is frequently just lazy writing on the side of the author and cannot really be excused. For instance, a conclusion of around a page in length is acceptable if the lab report is three pages long.
The final paragraph’s (conclusion) content
As was previously mentioned, there may be a lot of questions in the end. It can be challenging for writers to strike a balance between offering a thought-provoking and compelling ending and conveying vital information without appearing corny or unnecessarily emotional. The following general points should be mentioned in any conclusion for scientific studies and other academic papers:. a simple synopsis or overview of the data in the report
Your conclusion should serve to both describe what was done and synthesize the material, just as your introduction served to summarize what you hoped to demonstrate with your lab report. In order to unite and make sense of all of the important concerns in one location, synthesizing entails gathering them all together.
- Your paper’s research question, hypothesis, and primary goals and objectives should be reviewed.
- Techniques employed
- Results/findings
This can be covered succinctly in one paragraph (again depending on the length of your paper; for instance a lab report that is only 1 page of body can only withstand a couple sentences for this section).
Interpretation of the outcomes and conclusions
Because it precisely states what was learned from the experiment and the practical advantages drawn from the findings, this section is especially important for students. Most of the time, lab instructors are curious to know what you actually learnt through the entire experiment procedure and your responses to questions such, “So what?” What does this all mean, then? There are two critical questions that, if properly addressed, should show that you have understood the lab experiment. Similarly, you should respond to the query. What’s the overall fit of everything? This is somewhat related to the prior process of synthesis, but it can also be interpreted separately (as the question may naturally come up when sharing what was learned).
Interesting observations and findings
Students frequently discover fascinating side points or unexpected results while conducting research on particular topics. Even though they may not be directly related to the goal and conclusions, these elements are important enough to include in your report. This material might be useful to educators and other researchers.
Issues, mistakes, and adjustments for the future
When doing an experiment, things might occasionally go wrong or interferences can happen that throw the procedure off, changing the outcomes. These details are crucial to include in your report. especially if it is known that other people might copy your information. The prospective researcher will be better prepared and more likely to make the necessary corrections if they are aware of the faults and potential issues beforehand. In a same vein, experimenters ought to offer the reader a few remedies to potential issues. They are not only displaying critical thinking on the subject in this way, but they are also helping their fellow researchers and students.
Real-world significance
This final part is frequently a strong approach to wrap up a report. It brings the subject to a satisfying conclusion and could make the reader feel content with the information. Understanding and comprehending abstract ideas and concepts requires applying them to practical situations. If we can’t apply what we learned in a lab to the “real world” (or at least recognize its applicability in the real world), we frequently don’t fully comprehend the procedure that occurred and the discoveries that were made. One of the most crucial parts of the lab report conclusion is this, above all other difficulties.