Lab & Technical Reports

As a manager in the construction industry, there’s a good chance you will be obtaining, reading, and interpreting lab reports more often than writing them. These types of lab reports cover such items as soil, concrete strength, and steel strength tests. Knowing how to write a clear, comprehensive lab report will help you better understand and utilize such reports in your professional career.

An excellent resource on how to write lab reports is University of Minnesota Student Writing Guide Mechanical Engineering Lab Reports

Checklist

I. Analysis

• • Why is the lab test being executed?

  • What is the question being asked?

  • What is the answer to the question being asked?

II. Evaluation

Content

• Does the report contain all required information in a clear, concise form?

  • • • Cover Page

        • Descriptive Title of the document

        • Author(s)' name(s) and affiliation(s)

        • Date

      • Abstract

        • Brief description of report contents (generally 400 words or less)

      • Table of Contents

      • Introduction

        • Provides background and theory for the experiment

        • What the experiment will find

        • Why it is needed

        • States the question(s)

      • Method

        • A complete description of the

          • apparatus;

          • equipment; and,

          • procedure followed in the experiment.

      • Results

        • Describes the data obtained when the method was performed

        • Describes uncertainties

      • Discussion

        • Interpretation of the results

        • Answers the question(s)

      • References

      • Appendix (if needed)

Tone

• • • Is this written to persuade, or is it objective?

Style

• • • Are visual elements used? If so, are they attached?

      • charts

      • graphs

      • images

    • Is the report concise (short/to the point/without omitting needed information)?

Attitude

• • • Is the active voice used?

      • In active voice the subject of the sentence is doing the action and the BE verb is not used.

        • To be: is, am, are, was,were be, been, being

    • Example:

      • Passive: It was noted the roofing material had been removed.

      • Active: A roofing contractor removed the roofing material.

Appearance

• • • Is the report executed in the required format?

    • Generally accepted format: 12 pt font, 1 inch margins, headings which subdivide the information into manageable sections, with one heading per page, minimum.

The BIG Question: Does the report provide a clear and concise representation of your work?