19 Writing Lab Reports

Persuasion and Lab Reports

Printed Page 516-517

Persuasion and Lab Reports

Early in your science or engineering course work, you will likely be required to write lab reports presenting routine findings. That is, you will be asked to replicate studies and test hypotheses that have already been replicated and tested. The reason your instructor asks you to do such labs is to introduce you to the scientific method and teach you important lab skills you will need later when you do conduct original research.

Your written lab report is the primary evidence on which your audience will judge your credibility and skills as a researcher. If your writing is poor, your readers might conclude that you are also a sloppy researcher. And if you fail to convince your audience that your work is professional and valuable, you might lose funding to continue.

At first glance, a lab report might appear to be an unadorned presentation of methods, data, and formulas. It isn’t. It is a carefully crafted argument meant to persuade an audience to accept your findings and conclusions. You need to justify virtually everything you did in the lab or in the field. To be persuasive, you need to answer these six questions:

Why is this topic important?
What have others already learned about the subject?
What remains to be learned about the subject?
Why are you using this methodology, as opposed to other methodologies, in carrying out the work?
Why do you draw these inferences, as opposed to others, from the data you generated?
What should be done next? Why?

These questions do not have only one correct answer. You have to make the case that you have done your work professionally and used good judgment at every point—from choosing what to read in preparation, to designing and conducting the research in the field or the lab, to writing the report. In other words, you have to be persuasive. In each section of your lab report, you must persuade your readers that you are a competent researcher who is familiar with the subject area and that you are presenting important information.

Because of the way people read lab reports, each section of the report must be persuasive. Although the report is organized as a single argument, most readers will not read it in a linear fashion, from start to finish. In fact, many readers will not read the whole report. They might begin with the title and abstract. If these two elements suggest that the report might be useful, they might skip to the end and read the conclusions. If the conclusions are persuasive, they might next read your introduction. If your introduction makes it clear that you are familiar with the field and know what you are doing, readers might then read the other sections of your report.

If English is not your first language, allow extra time to revise, edit, and proofread your lab reports carefully. You might also consider asking a native speaker of English to review them and point out areas where you could be clearer.