WRITING A LAB REPORT
PURPOSE OF (A LAB) REPORT
You should inform the reader…
•What the study was based on (theory and prior research)
•The hypotheses •Any assumptions made
•How the study was conducted
•Results of the study
•Interpretation of results
•Critical evaluation and conclusions drawn
LAB-REPORT WRITING -OVERVIEW
Writing a lab-report is different to writing an essay Tonight we will discuss the ‘standard’ format We follow APA format (American Psychological Assoc.) It’s a help, not a hindrance Defines the compulsory sections of a report Defines how we write and report statistics, graphs, tables etc A lab-report comprises: Specific ‘sections’ Some of which contain ‘sub-sections’ STICK TO THE RECOMMENDED ORDER Do NOT get creative with fonts, colours or page layouts!
SECTIONS AND SHAPE FOR A LAB-REPORT
1. Title 2. Abstract 3. Introduction 4. Method 5. Results 6. Discussion 7. References 8. Appendices
TITLE
TITLE
Summarizes the overarching theme of the report It should be informative! Be clear (no abbreviations) and concise 15 words MAX Avoid ‘ A study to show’ or ‘An experiment to investigate’ Include the IV (Independent Variable/s) and the DV (Dependent Variable/s)
TITLE EXAMPLES –IVS AND DVS
Situational Stress and the Willingness to Lie
The Effect of Narcissism on Social Media Use: Frequency and Function
Dark Triad Personality Traits and Deceptive Ability
TITLE: STROOP EXPERIMENT
Good “The Stroop interference effect: impact of word-color congruence on reaction time and accuracy” Bad “Lab report 1” “The Stroop experiment” “Examining Interference” “Investigation of the Stroop color-word effect in an undergraduate class of 18-50 year old males and females enrolled at Birk beck, and how it impacts ability to quickly and accurately name words from a list”
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: A CONCISE SUMMARY
100-150 words Written last using pasttense Why you did it (main background theory) Expected findings (hypotheses) Who you did it to (participants) What you did (method) What you found (main result) What it means (conclusion) Should give enough information that reader has a good grasp of key points of your report-remember this is all that people often read
ABSTRACT: EXAMPLE
The relationship between gender and memory has been largely neglected by research, despite occasional studies reporting gender differences in episodic memory performance. The present study examined potential gender differences in episodic memory, semantic memory, primary memory, and priming. 530 women and 470 men, from Umea, Sweden, 35-80 years of age, participated. There were no differences between gender with regard to age, education, or on a measure of global intellectual functioning. As has been demonstrated previously, men outperformed women on a visuo-spatial task and women outperformed men on tests of verbal fluency. In addition, the results demonstrated that women consistently performed at a higher level than men on the episodic memory tasks, although there were no differences between gender on the tasks assessing semantic memory, primary memory, or priming. The women’s higher level of performance on the episodic memory tasks could not be fully explained by their higher verbal ability. Abstract from Herlitz, Nilsson and Bäckman (1997), slightly amended.
ABSTRACT: EXAMPLE
The relationship between gender and memory has been largely neglected by research, despite occasional studies reporting gender differences in episodic memory performance. The present study examined potential gender differences in episodic memory, semantic memory, primary memory, and priming. 530 women and 470 men, from Umea, Sweden, 35-80 years of age, participated. There were no differences between gender with regard to age, education, or on a measure of global intellectual functioning. As has been demonstrated previously, men outperformed women on a visuo-spatial task and women outperformed men on tests of verbal fluency. In addition, the results demonstrated that women consistently performed at a higher level than men on the episodic memory tasks, although there were no differences between gender on the tasks assessing semantic memory, primary memory, or priming. The women’s higher level of performance on the episodic memory tasks could not be fully explained by their higher verbal ability. Abstract from Herlitz, Nilsson and Bäckman (1997), slightly amended.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION: OVERVIEW
This is your chance to introduce the topic of your research – what has been done by other researchers, what did you do and why?
Only about 3 paragraphs
•Describe and define the area that you are studying and why it is important – general background
•Describe previous work (or theories) that is relevant to the area (past tense)
•Explain the rationale for your study – are there gaps in knowledge, unresolved issues, or was previous work methodologically flawed, etc
•What you are doing now to address this problem (present tense)
•Sets out the specific aims and hypothesis/hypotheses (informally)
Setting the scene
Theoretical & empirical background
Open questions
Aims of present research
Move from general (background) to specific (aims/hypotheses)
INTRODUCTION: FUNNEL SHAPED
INTRODUCTION: OPENING/SCENE SETTING
Introduces area of research in question
Demonstrate the importance of your research
Introduce the general topic area
Why is this worth researching?
Set out the overall research question, and the motivation
INTRODUCTION: LITERATURE REVIEW
Overview of the theoretical and empirical background Please be selective Theoretical What theories exist? Who developed them? What do they claim? Empirical What other research studies have been done in this area? What did they do? What did they find? A logical sequence helps the reader Perhaps a chronological order?
INTRODUCTION: AIMS OF RESEARCH
Open questions: •Pose an important question that needs to be answered which flows logically from material reviewed already Rationale Aims of present research: •Explains briefly how question is going to be investigated Finish with Hypotheses •Clear specific, testable predictions about the effect of the IV(s) on the DV(s) •NB. You do NOT need to formally state ‘the experimental hypothesis is….’ Stating what you expect to find (your predictions) is enough
INTRODUCTION: STROOP
CITING LITERATURE: IN THE TEXT
In-text citation: Citation in text, in brackets, immediately after the relevant work has been described. Cites the author and the year the work was published Back up what you are saying with evidence
CITATION: EXAMPLES
In-text citations can occur in different contexts
•Meaburn and Smith (2015) found that…
•It has been found that Birkbeck students are awesome (Meaburn & Smith, 2015)
•This study supports findings presented by Duggan, Fletcher and Spoonbright (2010), showing that…
•Duggan et al. (2010) proposed that …
METHODS
METHOD
This is where you tell the reader what you did and how you did it
Must contain sufficient information that the reader could replicate your experiment
Detailed and precise with no repeated information Using the sub-sections well Past tense. You’ve already done it! Ethical approval statement might come at the end
METHOD: SUB-SECTIONS
Sub-sections titled in italics and left-aligned
•Design •Participants (the sample) •Materials/Apparatus/stimuli •Procedure
DESIGN
What were the variables of your experiment? • IV(s) • Number of levels, and what are the levels? • How are they manipulated? • DV(s) • What are you measuring? • What level of measurement was the DV?
What type of design was used? • Between-subject, or within-subject How were participants assigned to groups? Random Allocation? Were there any controls in your design?
STROOP
“A within-subjects design was used, with participants completing both levels of the independent variable. There were two dependent variables; accuracy in word-color naming and speed of word-color naming. In order to minimize ordering effects, the word lists were counterbalanced with half the participants completing the noncongruent word list first, and half completing the congruent word list first. Relevant extraneous variables that were not controlled for were age, gender, English as second Language. “
PARTICIPANTS
Who took part in your study? How many? (N) Describe what you know about them Gender split, age-range, … How were they selected and recruited? Motivation to participate Volunteers? Paid? Screening or exclusions details • Medical exclusions, English not first language…
PARTICIPANTS: STROOP
“The experiment was conducted during a first year psychology undergraduate lecture at Birkbeck University. The sample consisted of 26 students (13 male and 13 female) between 18 and 38 years of age (N=26, mean age= 25.85 years, St.dev =5.86)”
All participants were naive to the purpose of the experiment Participants were excluded from the sample if [detail any exclusion criteria applied]
MATERIALS/APPARATUS/STIMULI
What equipment or instruments were used to collect data? •Questionnaires (cite source, or provide copy in Appendix) •Computers (specify software used) •Stimulus material or equipment Describe these when they are specialised or unusual Specific software or homemade equipment No need to give me the technical specifications of your pencil, but do specify they were used How controls and balancing procedures were implemented
MATERIALS: STROOP
“Participants were provided with paper copies of Stimulus A (congruent condition) and stimulus B (Non-congruent condition). See Appendix A. Stimulus A consisted of a list of 30 color words printed in congruent ink colors (i..e, the word ‘yellow’ was printed in yellow ink). Stimulus B consisted of an identical set of 30 color words printed in a different order and in incongruent ink colors (i..e, the word ‘yellow’ was printed in red ink). The same five ink colors and corresponding names (yellow, red, blue, green and purple) appeared in both stimuli, but the order of words differed. “
PROCEDURE
A chronological account of what procedures the participants were put through — What did the participants do during the experiment?
•Pay close attention to the order of events •Instructions to participant •Number of trials (if relevant) •Order of presentation of trials (random? same or different for each participant?) •Timing of presentation of stimuli
PROCEDURE: STROOP
Students were asked to split into pairs, and to select who is the experimenter and who is the participant. The experimenter presented the participant with a stimulus set (A or B). The participant was then instructed to name out aloud the colors of the ink for each word as fast and as accurately as possible, starting with the left-hand column, reading from top to bottom. The experimenter timed how long it took in seconds to read the list of 30 words in the stimulus set (timed from naming of the first word to last word). In addition, the number of incorrect responses were also recorded. First responses per word were taken. The experiment was then repeated with the second stimulus set.
RESULTS
RESULTS
This is where you tell the reader what you found This is still written in longhand No Bullets; Never end a sentence with etc. Use all tools available to get your results across as clearly as possible Selective use of graphs or tables to summarise your findings Start with ‘descriptive’ statistics Means, modes or medians; Variability Progress to ‘inferential’ statistics There is no interpretation in the results section, no suggestion of what the results might mean – Discussion
RESULTS: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
Describe what you see in your data, including the statistics you think are informative to the reader For simple designs, include mean and standard deviation in prose as well. [For more complex designs, put mean and s.d. in table]
“Slower mean reaction times were recorded for the caffeine group (mean=71.92 seconds, SD=7.24) compared to the non-caffeine group (mean=43.00 seconds, SD=8.45).”
FIGURES AND TABLES
These are two visual ways of showing data Figures = Charts, Graphs, Histograms etc. Tables = Data in tabulated format Use graphs from SPSS but write your own tables. Label your Figures and Tables with numbers and titles Figure 1: Bar Chart to Show Mean Reaction Times for Groups With and Without Caffeine Table 1: Table to Show Number of Errors Observed in Groups With and Without Caffeine
TABLES
Tables summarise the data in table format Raw data and/or means, SDs or other descriptive information Be consistent with decimal places. Consider how accurate your initial measurements were Be careful with your rounding up and/or down Description of table goes ABOVE table
TABLES
You put things on TOP of tables
FIGURES
A figure is a visual image of your data Should stand alone Remember to label your axes The x axis is across Usually shows the IV The y axis is vertical Usually shows the DV
Description of graph goes UNDERNEATH graph (which is called a figure)
FIGURES
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS: STROOP
Figure X:
RT Incongruent condition
time(sec)
Frequency
0 10 20 30 40
024681014
Incongruent
N errors
Frequency
0 2 4 6 8
051015
RT congruent condition
time(sec)
Frequency
0 10 20 30 40
0246810
Congruent
N errors
Frequency
0 2 4 6 8
0510152025
RESULTS: INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Restate your design in terms of the statistical test you applied – what sort e.g. ANOVA, Correlation/Regression. State what the findings of this were
E.g. For ANOVA give the F ratios for each main effect and the interaction, give the degrees of freedom for each F ratio, and say whether each was statistically significant and at what level (or preferably give precise probability*) Do NOT interpret your findings in this section
INFERENTIAL STATISTICS: STROOP
DISCUSSION
DISCUSSION
The discussion interprets and evaluates your findings… Start by summarising your main findings, briefly and in normal language
No data or numerical findings should be presented here How do your results match your hypothesis/es?
[And don’t worry if your results were not significant as you probably have more to write about!]
Summary of findings
Implications for open questions
Conclusions Limitations and further research
Implications for theoretical & empirical background
DISCUSSION: FUNNEL SHAPED
DISCUSSION: ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS
Is there any reason to think that your experimental design is not testing what you think it is testing (always relate back to your actual data)?
Are there alternative explanations for your pattern of data? Is there any research that would support an alternative explanation (you can introduce new literature here)?
DISCUSSION: LIMITATIONS
Evaluate the strengths and limitations of your experiment
Is there a reason you may not have been testing what you set out to test? Nuisance variables or confounds?
Were there any ways you could improve the experiment? [NB: Increasing the N is rarely a good answer…]
Always offer solutions to problems or limitations you present
DISCUSSION: CONCLUSION
Further Research What further research would add to the literature? Say what you might expect to find (you can introduce new literature here)
Final summary Include a concluding statement to your discussion: briefly summarize what you did, what you found, and how it relates to the question at hand
REFERENCES
CITATIONS: REFERENCES
The full reference to the work that was cited is provided in a section called ‘References’ at the the end of the work.
•List all the books and papers you referred to in-text •Do not list books you’ve read, but not cited in-text •Take the time to do a good job •NB. Wikipedia is not a valid source!
REFERENCE FORMAT
The APA has a specific reference format – Google ‘APA referencing style’ Alphabetical order by author surname [don’t number them or use bullet points]
Meaburn, E. L., & Smith, J. M. (2015). Cross cultural comparisons of undergraduate student personalities. Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality, 11(4), 841-849.
REFERENCE FORMAT
REFERENCES: STROOP
APPENDICES
This is the venue for important additional material, too bulky for the report itself e.g. Stimulus Material
Each section in your appendices should be labelled ‘Appendix A’, ‘Appendix B’, etc Refer to these in-text so that the reader knows they are available Be selective and acres of SPSS output is not required
GENERAL POINTS
PLAGIARISM
You are plagiarizing if you copy or very closely paraphrase materials that are not your own For example: Course Materials Books, journal articles, Wikipedia… Other people’s work (collusion)
VERY SERIOUS!!! Plagiarism can result in you failing the module And we check for plagiarism on all submissions
GENERAL POINTS: WRITING STYLE
Formal academic writing style: do not, not don’t Third person, avoid saying I or We at any point Avoid saying ‘significant’, this has a special meaning in statistics The opposite is non-significant, not insignificant All sections are written in longhand, i.e. full sentences and paragraphs, not bullets, or txtspk Depending on the section, you’ll be writing in the present or the past tense, but within each section do not mix
GENERAL POINT: LAYOUT
Sections are not numbered Most sections are titled (excluding the Introduction) Section titles are centre-aligned Sub-section titles are left-aligned and italicised Presentation is important Times New Roman 12 pt double spaced Normal page layout, i.e. one column No coloured backgrounds, wacky formats, odd fonts or clipart. All the effort we want (and give marks for) is in the clear and detailed presentation of your experiment and the results
GENERAL POINTS: WHERE TO BEGIN?
Begin with what you find easiest (but might I suggest…) Try writing from the inside out Method or results first….
Introduction
Discussion
FURTHER READING
Extra reading on Moodle (“lab writing resources”) Books: Field & Hole “How to Design and Report Experiments”
Online: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ http://www.apastyle.org/manual/related/sample-experiment-paper1.pdf
SUBMITTING YOUR LAB REPORT
SUBMISSION
Via Turnitin on Moodle A folder will be opened in the assignments section DEADLINE 5pm Wednesday 13th December (week 10)
SUBMISSION FORMAT
All sections go in one word document Including figures and appendices
Do spell-check and proof-read
Presentation is important – check the layout
Check your references are complete
GO TO MODULE ON MOODLE AND SCROLL DOWN TO ASSIGNMENTS
LATE SUBMISSION
Late reports will be capped at 40% (as per College Policy)
This can be overturned if: a) Student Support agreement in place b) Mitigating circumstances submitted and accepted
See handbook, email us (rm01@bbk.ac.uk), or Psych admin team
MARKING RUBRIC
Criteria % Mark Title Title 2 Abstract Abstract 5 Introduction Setting Scene 2 Introduction Theoretical/empirical background 4
Introduction
Open Question/Aims of present research 3 Introduction Hypotheses 6 Method Design 8 Method Participants 4 Method Materials/stimuli 5 Method Procedure 6 Results Descriptive statistics: Reporting 6
Results Descriptive statistics: Graphs/Tables 5
Results
Inferential: Choice of statistical test & justification 6 Results Inferential: Reporting statistical tests 6 Discussion Summary of findings 5
Discussion
Implications for open questions, and theoretical/empirical background. 4
Discussion Limitations 3 Discussion Further Research 2 Discussion Conclusion 2 References Referencing 4 Appendix Appendix 2 General Report structure 4 General Academic English 2 General Succinctness/clarity 2 General Grammar/spelling 2 100
First: >=70 2.1: 60-69 2.2: 50-59 3rd: 40-49 Fail: <=39
FEEDBACK
Marker: Ms Freud Grade: 78/100 Overall, this is a really good coursework assignment. However, there are a few minor elements that could be improved upon: The introduction section is missing a subheading. The literature review is concise and comprehensive. You start broad and then narrow this section into predictions. These were broadly clear but could have been improved The results section was well presented. For extra credit you could have collapsed across conditions to infer causality. You could have also produced a bar chart of frequencies of the three conditions. You should aim to round of your discussion with a brief conclusion. For more feedback please see my in-text comments and rubric scores.
You will receive detailed feedback on your reports
Overall grade Summary of main failing or bits to focus on In-text comments
Use it to improve your second report!
