Frederick Said:

Do biology majors/chem minors require a fair amount of writing? How difficult are lab reports?

We Answered:

It depends on your school and even on the particular professors you happen to get while in school. But generally the answer is yes, you'll have to do a lot of writing as a biology major.

Lab reports in college are typically expected to be succinct, but informative and well researched. I tell my students that EVERY word counts and that there should be **no** words in the paper that don't have to be there. Bio profs will also grade the quality of your writing to some degree (e.g., we'll mark off points for poor grammar, etc.).

You know, in my opinion, you should devote as much time as you possibly can to that English Comp class. In life, people will judge you by how well you write. Your professors certainly do so with assignments, and the same will be true when you have a job (reports, proposals, etc.). Even applying for a decent job requires that you be able to write well.

So go see your comp instructor and ask for his or her help if you need to because being able to communicate in writing is really critical to your future, no matter what you end-up doing for a living. Good luck!

Heather Said:

Do you know a good graphing program for writing lab reports?

We Answered:

There is a graphing program built into Microsoft Office Suite. It is in Excel. You put your information in, then go to the menu and have it make a graph for you.

Ray Said:

Where can i find past psychology lab reports on the net?

We Answered:

I have attached one of Milgram's articles that provides his results and his methodology. They are written up as per research and journal guidelines for that time (i.e. so not a "lab report"). I also would like to advise that replication of such an experiment has not been done due to the ethical nature, and would not pass current ethical standards now.

Hope this helps.

Ramon Said:

what is the proper tense used to write lab reports?

We Answered:

below is an example of a lab write up in which they identify where u use past and present tenses. good luck hope it helped.



Title (5 points) _______



Introduction (25 points) _______



Background information from lab manual or textbook. (no plagiarism) (15)

Information of what was to be and why this activity is done (5)

Hypotheses is stated clearly (5)


(Written in the present and past tenses, by paragraph)

Materials & Methods (10 points) _______



Materials list be written in prose-

How the experiment set up(4)

Experimental & control groups (2)

How the effect of treatments was measured (4)




(Written in the past tense, since you have already done it)



Results (20 points) _______



Data tables in Excel (title, columns & rows must have headings) (5)

Graph (proper title, label x & y axis) (5)

Statistical analysis if any (F & P-values, no need of SAS print out) (5)


Do not discuss the significance of the results; it is done in Discussion section

Results written in prose as a summary (5)




(Written in the past tense)



Discussion (25 points) _______



Results clearly analyzed and explained, do not restate them but


explain what may have caused them (5)

Results & analysis tied to hypothesis (supported or not) (5)

Appropriate conclusion drawn (15)

Other researchers suggestions if any

Any new questions generated from these results




(Written in the present & past tenses, in prose)



References (5 points) ______



Proper format – p81 (lab manual)


(Citation must be flush left, have no indentation, and musthave a hanging - 1/2 inch -paragraph format)



General (10 points)



Grammar & spelling, organization (5) _______

Overall organization & flow (5) _______




Note on organization & formatting:



Section headings must be center-justified followed by double spacing.

First line of each paragraph be indented ½ inch

Line-spacing be double-spaced

Type & proof read your report before submitting

Staple the grading sheet in front of your report.






Total score out of 100 points