How to Effectively Communicate Technical Information

Overview

In today's high tech society, most people eventually need to communicate technical information.  Science experiment reports provide practice developing such skills.

Components

Formal experiment reports typically contain the following sections:

1. Title
2. Your name and the name of contributing lab partner(s)
3. Purpose
4. Background Concepts and Formulae
5. Procedure
6. Labeled drawings of equipment used
7. Results such as observations
8. Graphs and data tables
9. A Sample Calculation
10. Sources of Errors
11. Conclusion

Purpose

The purpose is a clear and short, often one sentence statement, identifying the purpose of the investigation and the report.  Labs usually fall into one of the following categories:

• Observation of a phenomena (example:  The purpose of this experiment is to observe the shape of the moon tonight.)
• Testing a model or hypothesis (example:  The purpose of this experiment is to test the diminished intensity of light as it spreads unhindered in all directions.)
• Finding an empirical relationship (example:  The purpose of this experiment is to find the mathematical relationship between work and distance.)
• Acquiring a skill (example:  The purpose of this experiment is to acquire the skill of measuring pH in order to collect precise H⁺ concentration data.)
• Forming a hypothesis (example:  The purpose of this experiment is to form a model for the intensity of radioactivity as time passes.)
• Using an equation to measure an unknown (example:  The purpose of this experiment is to use the definition of density, D = mass/volume, to find the density of iron.)

The title should not be a an eye catching "teaser," but rather a couple precise words that capture the purpose and often the conclusion.

Background

The background describes important ideas, concepts, or historical happenings that relate to the lab.  It contains the the information that an uninformed reader will find useful to understand and interpret the rest of the report.  ALL information not obtained from the actual experiment should (by either parentheses, footnote or endnote) be referenced to the source of information, including author, title, publisher, copyright date, and page, or equivalent information so that a reader could find and read the information from the source.

Procedure

The procedure lists the steps used to do the experiment.  The steps should be numbered sequentially.  I.e., label Step 1, then Step 2, etc.  Each step starts on a new line.  Details should be sufficient so the reader could repeat the experiment and verify your results.  Referring the reader to an apparatus diagram can often significantly reduce the need for textual descriptions.

Apparatus

Include a labeled drawing of equipment and its arrangement.  This might be a rough sketch, but it must be neat and the essential pieces of equipment should be shown and labeled.

Results

Results contains the evidence that supports your claims in the conclusion and makes them believable.  Without the evidence, a reader has little reason to take your report seriously.  The background information and procedural steps present how the evidence was gathered and provide justification why the results are good evidence supporting your findings.

Tables

Almost all experiments involve making measurements, recording numbers and collecting data.  Data should be organized in a table with columns and rows.  Use the following guidelines.

• Column and row labels should identify the properties being measured.
• Include the units used for the measurements at the top of the column or start of a row, rather than next to every number.
• The data must be neat.  Use computer tabs to align words and decimal points.
• The data must use the precision and accuracy appropriate for the experimental setup, instruments uses, and care of measurement.  The significance of your findings will be based on the accuracy of your claim for the results, so always be careful both when taking data, and when reporting that data.

Graphs

The following are requirements for all graphs:

• The graph must be neat–use graph paper or a graph printed by a suitable graphing program.  Don't use a business graphing program (such as Excel) unless you can force it to construct a graph with the following characteristics:
• Generally patterns in scientific data are shown by two or three dimensional line or dot graphs, not bar graphs or pie charts.
• Include a title for each graph.  The title should tell what the graph shows.
• Each axis must have a uniform scale that produces a graph that occupies at least half the sheet of paper.  Numbers correspond to grid lines, not spaces between the lines.  The increase of the scale numbers must be constant and without breaks.
• Both axes must be labeled with the properties and units [such as Time (seconds) or Mass (g)].
• The graph must be precise and accurate for given data so that reasonable conclusions can be obtained.
• Do not connect the dots, but instead draw the best straight line or smooth curve that represents the data.  Remember all data contains experimental errors,  The purpose of the graph is to show the pattern that would have been shown had there been no errors rather than the errors.
• Include a caption for each graph which describes in words the relationship between variables shown on the graph.

Sample Calculation

It is not necessary to show each and every calculation you do.  Include a neat and clear example of each unique kind of calculation.  Start with definitions, show substitutions, and simplifications leading to an answer.

Sources Of Error

List the type of error and how it influenced the results.

Conclusion

This section should contain a statement of each of the generalizations that you are able to draw on the basis of your analysis of data, and if not obvious, an explanation of how you came to each conclusion.  Such conclusions should pertain to the purpose stated in the report.  (While conclusions often match the intended purpose, occasionally results indicate an anticipated finding was actually wrong!)  Also included in your conclusion any equations or proportions which have been developed from the experiment.