How Audience and Purpose Influence Lab Report Format EG Writing Program Polytechnic University Brooklyn, New York September 2005

This presentation details how to prepare lab reports for EG Your Audience and Purpose. 2. How lab reports address Audience and Purpose. 3. Resources available to you at Poly.

Your Audience and Purpose Technical writing is the literature of science, technology, and systems development. This audience has a need for information that is: Effective: It contains no unnecessary words or phrases and is not vague but relates to specific cases. Reliable: Facts must be solid and a reader must be able to verify them Informative: A report is used to guide future action

You will always know who you are writing for and why you are writing. Audience: Write for other engineers. Purpose: Report experimental results and discuss their significance. Your Audience and Purpose

Your audience values reliable knowledge. Write only what you can support with evidence. All statements must deal with your specific case. Avoid generalizations--your duty is to report only the results of your specific trial. Avoid the temptation to make claims that are larger than your evidence. Your Audience and Purpose

The purpose of the lab report is to make a reliable claim about a specific case. Your Audience and Purpose Your audience does not need to hear about what you learned, and your data is not the results of a quiz The audience wants to know what happened when you tried to reach your experimental objective

This presentation details how to prepare lab reports for EG Your Audience and Purpose. 2. How lab reports address Audience and Purpose. 3. Resources available to you at Poly.

The audience of science, technology, and systems reports expect a certain format. Every report has a title page, followed by the following sections: Abstract Introduction Procedure Data/observations Discussion/conclusion How lab reports address Audience and Purpose

Logic, not time, organizes the report. Abstract Brief trajectory of the report Introduction Background information to understand the hypothesis you test in the experiment Discussion/Conclusion Based on the information in the Introduction, did the Procedure produce the expected results in the Data/Observations? Procedure The steps you took to test the hypothesis Data/Observations What you saw when you used the procedure How lab reports address Audience and Purpose

Logic, not time, organizes the report. Abstract Brief trajectory of the report Introduction Background information to understand the hypothesis you test in the experiment Discussion/Conclusion Based on the information in the Introduction, did the Procedure produce the expected results in the Data/Observations? Procedure The steps you took to test the hypothesis Data/Observations What you saw when you used the procedure How lab reports address Audience and Purpose Previews the experimental objective (“what you did”) for a busy reader

Logic, not time, organizes the report. Abstract Brief trajectory of the report Introduction Background information to understand the hypothesis you test in the experiment Discussion/Conclusion Based on the information in the Introduction, did the Procedure produce the expected results in the Data/Observations? Procedure The steps you took to test the hypothesis Data/Observations What you saw when you used the procedure How lab reports address Audience and Purpose Presents all concepts and equations that will come up later

Logic, not time, organizes the report. Abstract Brief trajectory of the report Introduction Background information to understand the hypothesis you test in the experiment Discussion/Conclusion Based on the information in the Introduction, did the Procedure produce the expected results in the Data/Observations? Procedure The steps you took to test the hypothesis Data/Observations What you saw when you used the procedure How lab reports address Audience and Purpose Allows an outsider to independently verify results Results presented objectively without analysis

Logic, not time, organizes the report. Abstract Brief trajectory of the report Introduction Background information to understand the hypothesis you test in the experiment Discussion/Conclusion Based on the information in the Introduction, did the Procedure produce the expected results in the Data/Observations? Procedure The steps you took to test the hypothesis Data/Observations What you saw when you used the procedure How lab reports address Audience and Purpose Separate analysis and discussion of how well the hypothesis was supported

What else do I need to know? Write in the passive voice. Most of your report will be in the past tense. Include the materials you used in the Procedure Section in complete sentences. Staple your lab notes to the WC copy of your report. You may use graphics in your reports. Be sure to label them and describe them in words. Make sure your report is proofread and presented neatly. Print it out and read it over before you hand it in. How lab reports address Audience and Purpose

This presentation details how to prepare lab reports for EG Your Audience and Purpose. 2. How lab reports address Audience and Purpose. 3. Resources available to you at Poly.

Where to find help if you need it. The EG Lab Manual: egmanual.poly.edu EG website: eg.poly.edu The Writing Center, JAB 373 (718) Your writing consultant Resources available to you at Poly

This presentation details how to prepare lab reports for EG Your Audience and Purpose. 2. How lab reports address Audience and Purpose. 3. Resources available to you at Poly.