Write a Good Lab Conclusion in Science

A lab report describes an entire experiment from start to finish, describing procedures, reporting results and analyzing data. The report is used to demonstrate what has been learned. The conclusion is an integral part of the report; this is the section that reiterates the experiment’s main findings and gives the reader an overview of the lab trial. Demonstrate that you’ve effectively learned the objectives of your assignment by writing a solid conclusion to your lab report.

Steps

Outlining your Conclusion

  1. Go over your assignment. Verify that you’ve accomplished all the parts of your assignment so that you can properly address them in the conclusion. Take a few moments to make a list of what you’re supposed to demonstrate or learn in the experiment.
  2. Revisit your introduction. To make sure your conclusion is consistent with the rest of your report, revisit your lab report’s introduction.[1] This is a good tactic to help you brainstorm exactly what you’d like to say in your conclusion.
  3. Use the RERUN method. Start mapping out the different elements of your conclusion by using the RERUN method. The RERUN method can be a useful structure overall for a short lab report, but it is especially useful for providing a conclusion to your report that reviews the experiment’s important components.[2],[3] RERUN stands for:
    • Restate: Restate the lab experiment. Describe the assignment.
    • Explain: Explain the purpose of the lab. What were you trying to figure out or discover? Talk briefly about the procedure you followed to complete the lab.
    • Results: Explain your results. Confirm whether or not your hypothesis was supported by the results.
    • Uncertainties: Account for uncertainties and errors. Explain, for example, if there were other circumstances beyond your control that impacted the experiment.
    • New: Discuss new questions or discoveries that emerged from the experiment.
  4. Plan other sections to add. The RERUN method is a good start, but there may be other components that you should include. It’s a good idea to talk about what you’ve learned in the experiment. You might also want to situate your research within the overall research field, or how you can relate the findings to concepts you’re learning in class.[4]
    • Your assignment may also have specific questions that need to be answered. Make sure you answer these fully and coherently in your conclusion.

Discussing the Experiment and Hypothesis

  1. Introduce the experiment in your conclusion. Start out the conclusion by providing a brief overview of the experiment. Describe the experiment in 1-2 sentences and discuss the objective of the experiment. Also make sure to include your manipulated, controlled and responding variables.
  2. Restate your procedures. Give a brief summary of the process that you went through with your experiment. Give an overview of the experiment, which will help the reader visualize what you did. [5]
    • If you tried the experiment more than once, describe the reasons for doing so. Discuss changes that you made in your procedures.
    • Brainstorm ways to explain your results in more depth. Go back through your lab notes, paying particular attention to the results you observed. [1]
  3. Briefly describe what you discovered. In a few sentences, summarize the results that you arrived at in your experiment. Summarize the data here; don’t include all of the results.[5]
    • Start this section with wording such as, “The results showed that…”
    • You don’t need to give the raw data here. Just summarize the main points, calculate averages, or give a range of data to give an overall picture to the reader.[5]
  4. Comment on whether or not your hypothesis is supported. Your hypothesis is a statement that describes what the expected outcome will be.[6] The hypothesis forms the basis of your experiment and drives the parts of your process. Restate your hypothesis and then state clearly and concisely whether or not your hypothesis has been supported by the experiment. Was the experiment a success?
    • Use simple language such as, “The results supported the hypothesis,” or “The results did not support the hypothesis.”
  5. Link your results to your hypothesis. The results of your experiment have determined whether or not the hypothesis is supported. After noting this in your report, comment further by describing the meaning of your experiment’s results.[5] Clarify why the results indicate a supported hypothesis or not.

Demonstrating What You Have Learned

  1. Describe what you learned in the lab. You may be asked to demonstrate a particular scientific principle or theory. If this is the case, your conclusion should reflect that.[1]
    • If it’s not clear in your conclusion what you learned from the lab, start off by writing, “In this lab, I learned…” This will give the reader a heads up that you will be describing exactly what you learned.
    • Add details about what you learned and how you learned it. Adding dimension to your learning outcomes will convince your reader that you did, in fact, learn from the lab.[1] Give specifics about how you learned that molecules will act in a particular environment, for example.
    • Describe how what you learned in the lab could be applied to a future experiment.[1]
  2. Answer specific questions given in the assignment. Your teacher may have listed certain questions in the assignment that need to be answered.
    • On a new line, write the question in italics. On the next line, write the answer to the question in regular text.
  3. Explain whether you achieved the experiment’s objectives. The introduction to your lab report should have stated certain objectives that you hoped to achieve with this experiment. Revisit these objectives in the conclusion to make sure that you are addressing them sufficiently.[7]
    • If your experiment did not achieve the objectives, explain or speculate why not.

Wrapping Up Your Conclusion

  1. Describe possible errors that may have occurred. To provide an accurate depiction of the lab experiment, describe errors that may have happened in the course of the experiment. This will add credibility to your experiment and results.[5]
  2. Talk about uncertainties. There may be uncontrollable circumstances that impact your experiment, such as weather changes or unavailability of a certain supply. Discuss these uncertainties and their potential impact on the overall experiment.
    • If your experiment raised questions that your collected data can’t answer, discuss this here.
  3. Propose future experiments. In light of what you learned in your experiment, give recommendations on the design of future experiments. What could be changed to elicit more reliable or valid results?
  4. Propose additional questions that arise. Sometimes, scientific research trials will generate more questions than answers. If this is the case in your research, you can discuss these in the conclusion in the context for future research.
  5. Relate your research to other research. Particularly for more advanced lab reports, you may choose to discuss how your research adds to the research in the field. Visualize all research on your topic as a brick wall, and your own research is one brick in that wall. How does your research fit within the overall scheme of things? [8]
    • Describe what is new or innovative about your research.
    • This can often set you apart from your classmates, many of whom will just write up the barest of discussion and conclusion.
  6. Add a final statement. Wrap up the entire conclusion – and the entire report – with a statement that summarizes the scope of the lab report and the most important conclusions. Alternately, speculate on future uses for the research. Here is your chance to make an insightful comment that will set your lab report apart from others.

Finalizing Your Lab Report

  1. Write in the third person. Avoid using “I,” “we” or “me” in your lab report. Instead, use language such as, “The hypothesis was supported…”[2]
  2. Read through the full report. Once you’ve finalized your conclusion, read through the entire report to make sure it is logical. Watch for any places where you might contradict yourself, and correct these instances. Your conclusion should reiterate what you learned from the experiment and how you came to understand these learning outcomes.
  3. Proofread your report. Check for spelling and grammatical errors in your report. A report that contains errors can inadvertently decrease the report’s reliability. Take the time to ensure your report is error-free.

Tips

  • If you include figures or tables in your conclusion, be sure to include a brief caption or label so that the reader knows what the figures refer to. Also, discuss the figures briefly in the text of your report.[4]

Warnings

  • Take care with writing your lab report when working in a team setting. While the lab experiment may be a collaborative effort, your lab report is your own work. If you copy sections from someone else’s report, this will be considered plagiarism.[4]

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 http://www.ncsu.edu/labwrite/lc/lc-improvinglaprep.htm
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://teacherweb.com/CA/SuzanneMiddleSchool/Warren/Conclusion-RERUN-format.pdf
  3. ↑ http://www.batesville.k12.in.us/physics/phynet/Lab%20Rules/lab_format_rerun.htm
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://www.union.edu/Resources/Academic/writing/Help/Faculty/Orzel/GuideToWritingLabReports.php#Discussion%20and%20Conclusions:
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 http://www.chem.ucla.edu/~gchemlab/labnotebook_web.htm
  6. ↑ http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/hypothes.php
  7. ↑ http://writing.engr.psu.edu/workbooks/laboratory.html#conclusionsContainer
  8. ↑ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/scientific-reports/
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