• How to Write Evaluation Reports: Purpose, Structure, Content, Challenges, Tips, and Examples
  • Learning Center

how to write an evaluation in a science report

This article explores how to write effective evaluation reports, covering their purpose, structure, content, and common challenges. It provides tips for presenting evaluation findings effectively and using evaluation reports to improve programs and policies. Examples of well-written evaluation reports and templates are also included.

Table of Contents

  • What is an Evaluation Report?
  • What is the purpose of an evaluation report?
  • Importance of Evaluation Reports in Program Management
  • Structure of evaluation report
  • Best Practices for Writing an Evaluation Report
  • Common Challenges in Writing an Evaluation Report
  • Tips for Presenting Evaluation Findings Effectively
  • Using Evaluation Reports to Improve Programs and Policies
  • Example of Evaluation Report Templates
  • Conclusion: Making Evaluation Reports Work for You

▶️What is an Evaluation Report?

An evaluatio n report is a document that presents the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of an evaluation, which is a systematic and objective assessment of the performance, impact, and effectiveness of a program, project, policy, or intervention. The report typically includes a description of the evaluation’s purpose, scope, methodology, and data sources, as well as an analysis of the evaluation findings and conclusions, and specific recommendations for program or project improvement.

Evaluation reports can help to build capacity for monitoring and evaluation within organizations and communities, by promoting a culture of learning and continuous improvement. By providing a structured approach to evaluation and reporting, evaluation reports can help to ensure that evaluations are conducted consistently and rigorously, and that the results are communicated effectively to stakeholders.

Evaluation reports may be read by a wide variety of audiences, including persons working in government agencies, staff members working for donors and partners, students and community organisations, and development professionals working on projects or programmes that are comparable to the ones evaluated.

▶️What is the purpose of an evaluation report?

The purpose of an evaluation report is to provide stakeholders with a comprehensive and objective assessment of a program or project’s performance, achievements, and challenges. The report serves as a tool for decision-making, as it provides evidence-based information on the program or project’s strengths and weaknesses, and recommendations for improvement.

The main objectives of an evaluation report are:

  • Accountability: To assess whether the program or project has met its objectives and delivered the intended results, and to hold stakeholders accountable for their actions and decisions.
  • Learning : To identify the key lessons learned from the program or project, including best practices, challenges, and opportunities for improvement, and to apply these lessons to future programs or projects.
  • Improvement : To provide recommendations for program or project improvement based on the evaluation findings and conclusions, and to support evidence-based decision-making.
  • Communication : To communicate the evaluation findings and conclusions to stakeholders , including program staff, funders, policymakers, and the general public, and to promote transparency and stakeholder engagement.

An evaluation report should be clear, concise, and well-organized, and should provide stakeholders with a balanced and objective assessment of the program or project’s performance. The report should also be timely, with recommendations that are actionable and relevant to the current context. Overall, the purpose of an evaluation report is to promote accountability, learning, and improvement in program and project design and implementation.

▶️Importance of Evaluation Reports in Program Management

Evaluation reports play a critical role in program management by providing valuable information about program effectiveness and efficiency. They offer insights into the extent to which programs have achieved their objectives, as well as identifying areas for improvement.

Evaluation reports help program managers and stakeholders to make informed decisions about program design, implementation, and funding. They provide evidence-based information that can be used to improve program outcomes and address challenges.

Moreover, evaluation reports are essential in demonstrating program accountability and transparency to funders, policymakers, and other stakeholders. They serve as a record of program activities and outcomes, allowing stakeholders to assess the program’s impact and sustainability.

In short, evaluation reports are a vital tool for program managers and evaluators. They provide a comprehensive picture of program performance, including strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. By utilizing evaluation reports, program managers can make informed decisions to improve program outcomes and ensure that their programs are effective, efficient, and sustainable over time.

how to write an evaluation in a science report

▶️Structure of evaluation report

The structure of an evaluation report can vary depending on the requirements and preferences of the stakeholders, but typically it includes the following sections:

  • Executive Summary : A brief summary of the evaluation findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
  • Introduction: An overview of the evaluation context, scope, purpose, and methodology.
  • Background: A summary of the programme or initiative that is being assessed, including its goals, activities, and intended audience(s).
  • Evaluation Questions : A list of the evaluation questions that guided the data collection and analysis.
  • Methodology: A description of the data collection methods used in the evaluation, including the sampling strategy, data sources, and data analysis techniques.
  • Findings: A presentation of the evaluation findings, organized according to the evaluation questions.
  • Conclusions : A summary of the main evaluation findings and conclusions, including an assessment of the program or project’s effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability.
  • Recommendations : A list of specific recommendations for program or project improvements based on the evaluation findings and conclusions.
  • Lessons Learned : A discussion of the key lessons learned from the evaluation that could be applied to similar programs or projects in the future.
  • Limitations : A discussion of the limitations of the evaluation, including any challenges or constraints encountered during the data collection and analysis.
  • References: A list of references cited in the evaluation report.
  • Appendices : Additional information, such as detailed data tables, graphs, or maps, that support the evaluation findings and conclusions.

The structure of the evaluation report should be clear, logical, and easy to follow, with headings and subheadings used to organize the content and facilitate navigation.

In addition, the presentation of data may be made more engaging and understandable by the use of visual aids such as graphs and charts.

▶️Best Practices for Writing an Evaluation Report

Writing an effective evaluation report requires careful planning and attention to detail. Here are some best practices to consider when writing an evaluation report:

Begin by establishing the report’s purpose, objectives, and target audience. A clear understanding of these elements will help guide the report’s structure and content.

Use clear and concise language throughout the report. Avoid jargon and technical terms that may be difficult for readers to understand.

Use evidence-based findings to support your conclusions and recommendations. Ensure that the findings are clearly presented using data tables, graphs, and charts.

Provide context for the evaluation by including a brief summary of the program being evaluated, its objectives, and intended impact. This will help readers understand the report’s purpose and the findings.

Include limitations and caveats in the report to provide a balanced assessment of the program’s effectiveness. Acknowledge any data limitations or other factors that may have influenced the evaluation’s results.

Organize the report in a logical manner, using headings and subheadings to break up the content. This will make the report easier to read and understand.

Ensure that the report is well-structured and easy to navigate. Use a clear and consistent formatting style throughout the report.

Finally, use the report to make actionable recommendations that will help improve program effectiveness and efficiency. Be specific about the steps that should be taken and the resources required to implement the recommendations.

By following these best practices, you can write an evaluation report that is clear, concise, and actionable, helping program managers and stakeholders to make informed decisions that improve program outcomes.

▶️Common Challenges in Writing an Evaluation Report

Writing an evaluation report can be a challenging task, even for experienced evaluators. Here are some common challenges that evaluators may encounter when writing an evaluation report:

  • Data limitations: One of the biggest challenges in writing an evaluation report is dealing with data limitations. Evaluators may find that the data they collected is incomplete, inaccurate, or difficult to interpret, making it challenging to draw meaningful conclusions.
  • Stakeholder disagreements: Another common challenge is stakeholder disagreements over the evaluation’s findings and recommendations. Stakeholders may have different opinions about the program’s effectiveness or the best course of action to improve program outcomes.
  • Technical writing skills: Evaluators may struggle with technical writing skills, which are essential for presenting complex evaluation findings in a clear and concise manner. Writing skills are particularly important when presenting statistical data or other technical information.
  • Time constraints: Evaluators may face time constraints when writing evaluation reports, particularly if the report is needed quickly or the evaluation involved a large amount of data collection and analysis.
  • Communication barriers: Evaluators may encounter communication barriers when working with stakeholders who speak different languages or have different cultural backgrounds. Effective communication is essential for ensuring that the evaluation’s findings are understood and acted upon.

By being aware of these common challenges, evaluators can take steps to address them and produce evaluation reports that are clear, accurate, and actionable. This may involve developing data collection and analysis plans that account for potential data limitations, engaging stakeholders early in the evaluation process to build consensus, and investing time in developing technical writing skills.

▶️Tips for Presenting Evaluation Findings Effectively

Presenting evaluation findings effectively is essential for ensuring that program managers and stakeholders understand the evaluation’s purpose, objectives, and conclusions. Here are some tips for presenting evaluation findings effectively:

  • Know your audience: Before presenting evaluation findings, ensure that you have a clear understanding of your audience’s background, interests, and expertise. This will help you tailor your presentation to their needs and interests.
  • Use visuals: Visual aids such as graphs, charts, and tables can help convey evaluation findings more effectively than written reports. Use visuals to highlight key data points and trends.
  • Be concise: Keep your presentation concise and to the point. Focus on the key findings and conclusions, and avoid getting bogged down in technical details.
  • Tell a story: Use the evaluation findings to tell a story about the program’s impact and effectiveness. This can help engage stakeholders and make the findings more memorable.
  • Provide context: Provide context for the evaluation findings by explaining the program’s objectives and intended impact. This will help stakeholders understand the significance of the findings.
  • Use plain language: Use plain language that is easily understandable by your target audience. Avoid jargon and technical terms that may confuse or alienate stakeholders.
  • Engage stakeholders: Engage stakeholders in the presentation by asking for their input and feedback. This can help build consensus and ensure that the evaluation findings are acted upon.

By following these tips, you can present evaluation findings in a way that engages stakeholders, highlights key findings, and ensures that the evaluation’s conclusions are acted upon to improve program outcomes.

▶️Using Evaluation Reports to Improve Programs and Policies

Evaluation reports are crucial tools for program managers and policymakers to assess program effectiveness and make informed decisions about program design, implementation, and funding. By analyzing data collected during the evaluation process, evaluation reports provide evidence-based information that can be used to improve program outcomes and impact.

One of the primary ways that evaluation reports can be used to improve programs and policies is by identifying program strengths and weaknesses. By assessing program effectiveness and efficiency, evaluation reports can help identify areas where programs are succeeding and areas where improvements are needed. This information can inform program redesign and improvement efforts, leading to better program outcomes and impact.

Evaluation reports can also be used to make data-driven decisions about program design, implementation, and funding. By providing decision-makers with data-driven information, evaluation reports can help ensure that programs are designed and implemented in a way that maximizes their impact and effectiveness. This information can also be used to allocate resources more effectively, directing funding towards programs that are most effective and efficient.

Another way that evaluation reports can be used to improve programs and policies is by disseminating best practices in program design and implementation. By sharing information about what works and what doesn’t work, evaluation reports can help program managers and policymakers make informed decisions about program design and implementation, leading to better outcomes and impact.

Finally, evaluation reports can inform policy development and improvement efforts by providing evidence about the effectiveness and impact of existing policies. This information can be used to make data-driven decisions about policy development and improvement efforts, ensuring that policies are designed and implemented in a way that maximizes their impact and effectiveness.

In summary, evaluation reports are critical tools for improving programs and policies. By providing evidence-based information about program effectiveness and efficiency, evaluation reports can help program managers and policymakers make informed decisions, allocate resources more effectively, disseminate best practices, and inform policy development and improvement efforts.

▶️Example of Evaluation Report Templates

There are many different templates available for creating evaluation reports. Here are some examples of template evaluation reports that can be used as a starting point for creating your own report:

  • The National Science Foundation Evaluation Report Template – This template provides a structure for evaluating research projects funded by the National Science Foundation. It includes sections on project background, research questions, evaluation methodology, data analysis, and conclusions and recommendations.
  • The CDC Program Evaluation Template – This template, created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provides a framework for evaluating public health programs. It includes sections on program description, evaluation questions, data sources, data analysis, and conclusions and recommendations.
  • The World Bank Evaluation Report Template – This template, created by the World Bank, provides a structure for evaluating development projects. It includes sections on project background, evaluation methodology, data analysis, findings and conclusions, and recommendations.
  • The European Commission Evaluation Report Template – This template provides a structure for evaluating European Union projects and programs. It includes sections on project description, evaluation objectives, evaluation methodology, findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
  • The UNICEF Evaluation Report Template – This template provides a framework for evaluating UNICEF programs and projects. It includes sections on program description, evaluation questions, evaluation methodology, findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

These templates provide a structure for creating evaluation reports that are well-organized and easy to read. They can be customized to meet the specific needs of your program or project and help ensure that your evaluation report is comprehensive and includes all of the necessary components.

  • World Health Organisations Reports
  • Checkl ist for Assessing USAID Evaluation Reports

▶️Conclusion: Making Evaluation Reports Work for You

In conclusion, evaluation reports are essential tools for program managers and policymakers to assess program effectiveness and make informed decisions about program design, implementation, and funding. By analyzing data collected during the evaluation process, evaluation reports provide evidence-based information that can be used to improve program outcomes and impact.

To make evaluation reports work for you, it is important to plan ahead and establish clear objectives and target audiences. This will help guide the report’s structure and content and ensure that the report is tailored to the needs of its intended audience.

When writing an evaluation report, it is important to use clear and concise language, provide evidence-based findings, and offer actionable recommendations that can be used to improve program outcomes. Including context for the evaluation findings and acknowledging limitations and caveats will provide a balanced assessment of the program’s effectiveness and help build trust with stakeholders.

Presenting evaluation findings effectively requires knowing your audience, using visuals, being concise, telling a story, providing context, using plain language, and engaging stakeholders. By following these tips, you can present evaluation findings in a way that engages stakeholders, highlights key findings, and ensures that the evaluation’s conclusions are acted upon to improve program outcomes.

Finally, using evaluation reports to improve programs and policies requires identifying program strengths and weaknesses, making data-driven decisions, disseminating best practices, allocating resources effectively, and informing policy development and improvement efforts. By using evaluation reports in these ways, program managers and policymakers can ensure that their programs are effective, efficient, and sustainable over time.

Avatar

Well understanding, the description of the general evaluation of report are clear with good arrangement and it help students to learn and make practices

Avatar

Patrick Kapuot

Thankyou for very much for such detail information. Very comprehensively said.

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published.

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Featured Jobs

Project manager i – gh-tams.

  • United States

Junior Program Analyst/Admin Assistant – USAID LAC/FO

Chief of party sudan, senior advisor – infectious diseases usaid/india (global health security and amr)- virologist – local nationals only, monitoring, evaluation, and learning manager – contractor.

  • Av. Reverdil 8/10, 1260 Nyon, Switzerland (Remote)
  • UNI Global Union

How strong is my Resume?

Only 2% of resumes land interviews.

how to write an evaluation in a science report

READY TO LAND M&E JOB YOU LOVE?

Get our FREE walkthrough guide to landing a job in International Development

We will never spam or sell your data! You can unsubscribe at any time.

EvalCommunity LinkedIN

Services you might be interested in

Useful guides ....

Masters, PhD and Certificate in M&E

What is Evaluation?

What is the difference between Monitoring and Evaluation?

Types of Evaluation

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL)

Deals & Coupons ...

how to write an evaluation in a science report

LAND A JOB REFERRAL IN 2 WEEKS (NO ONLINE APPS!)

Sign Up & To Get My Free Referral Toolkit Now:

Library homepage

  • school Campus Bookshelves
  • menu_book Bookshelves
  • perm_media Learning Objects
  • login Login
  • how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
  • hub Instructor Commons
  • Download Page (PDF)
  • Download Full Book (PDF)
  • Periodic Table
  • Physics Constants
  • Scientific Calculator
  • Reference & Cite
  • Tools expand_more
  • Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

Chemistry LibreTexts

1.3: Lab Report Evaluation

  • Last updated
  • Save as PDF
  • Page ID 401127

  • Kathryn Haas
  • Duke University

Specifications for Lab Reports

The specifications and required format of lab reports are listed here. Additional tips and advice are given at the end of this section.

  • Title page: Title of experiment, course number, author, and date work was carried out, name of supervising TA. The title should be in large, bold font; author names and other information should be in standard font on sperate lines.
  • Background (importance/relevance) : A brief description and justification of the importance of the topic, with references to source material. What is the topic and why is it interesting and important? This is meant to "hook" the reader so they want to read about the topic.
  • Theory : A concise paragraph or more describing the general theory for the analytical technique used; this section should contain a reference to the appropriate pages of the textbook, or other source material from the literature.
  • Goals/Purpose : Brief statement of purpose, which should indicate what is analyzed and the technique used. Limit to three to five sentences.

In a study of the introduction sections of 48 scientific papers published in three research fields, linguist John Swales identified four common rhetorical "moves" that researchers use to communicate their work in the introduction section of a paper. 1 These "moves" can be used in a different order, can appear more than once in the introduction, or can be implied. Together they are a recipe for and effective introduction section for an original research article.

Four common moves in introduction sections of scientific articles: Announce the topic (what is this about, why is it interesting or important?) Summarize previous knowledge and research (What's already known?) Prepare the reader by indicating a gap in previous research and/or by raising a question about previous research. (Indicate what's missing in current knowledge, that your work can address.) Introduce the present research by stating the purpose and/or by outlining the research.

Effective introductions in all fields include similar rhetorical moves because they share the same rhetorical goal: the authors want to convince readers that the topic is important and that their work on the topic will advance the field’s knowledge.

  • Experimental Materials and Methods (including equipment): List the major equipment used, giving specific details about experimental conditions. Also list reagents and standard solutions used to calibrate the instrument, and the nature and origin of any unknown samples analyzed. DO NOT just refer the reader to the manual in terms of set up and procedure. But, you should cite the manual and any other reference sources. Visual aids (schematic or diagram) made by you are encouraged - do not put copywrited images or images from the lab manual into your report . It is NOT necessary to copy experimental instructions from the laboratory manual. Give a few specific details about the apparatus (e.g., "the Geiger counter was a Zeta Electronics model 66-G"), pertinent physical properties of the reagents used, the number of runs made to collect data and the relevant experimental conditions (temperatures, pressures, concentrations, etc.). This section should be brief.
  • Results/Data: Data organized and presented clearly using figures and tables, with error analysis, and a brief description of the data. The evaluation of data should appear in the discussion section (next), and not be mixed with statement of results in this section. Summarize your data in numbered tables and graphs. Data such as absorption or emission spectra, chromatograms, and mass spectra of each standard and each unknown mixture should be included. Data should be organized in a way that is easy for the reader to understand. Unnecessary data should not be included. When helpful, organize data in tables or figures so that it is easier for your reader to interpret their meaning (for the next section). Remember to label both axes on every graph/plot, and to give each a title. Graphs/plots should be referred to as Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc., and tables as Table 1, Table 2, etc. Figures and plots should be clear and font should be large enough to read. If multiple plots/figures are related and need to be viewed side-by side, they should be combined into one figure with several panales labeled A, B, C..etc. (use powerpoint or another software to combine). Present the results of your experiment based on the presented data, showing all steps in calculations needed to reach a numerical result. Include an analysis of errors. The data should be analyzed to determine the amount of the unknown in the original sample.
  • What is the meaning of the data? 
  • Are the results significant based on error analysis?
  • Do the results support the hypothesis?
  • If applicable, explain failure of (any lack of success) or limitations in the experiment.
  • If applicable, discuss possible improvements if you see any. 
  • What are the overall conclusions that can be drawn for the report/ the work?
  • References: List any references referred to in the report. This list should always include the textbook and the laboratory manual. In the text of the report, the reference is cited as a numbered footnote in parentheses: for example, "The drying procedure followed that outlined by Vogel (3)." Footnote: 3. A.I. Vogel, Textbook of Quantitative Inorganic Analysis. Third Edition, Longmans, London (1961), p. 221.

Turning in and grading of lab reports

All reports must be turned in as one single pdf file on Gradescope/Sakai.  You must select the appropriate pages for each section of your report during the submission process - if you do not, you may loose points for the misplaced section. Through the Gradescope software (linked on Sakai), your report will be graded by a group of TA's. When TA's grade your report, they will not see your name (except on the title page) - this is to reduce any possible biases during point allotment. 

The specifications listed above will be the general criterion used for grading your lab report, although additional lab-module-specific criteria will be given in each lab module's "Treatment of data" section. Use lab-specific "treatment of data", as well as the criteria above, as a guide in crafting your report.

Each section of the lab report will be graded as follows: You will receive all points for a given section if it is B-quality (ie ~84%) or better. If it is less than B-quality, you will receive zero points for that section. This B-or-nothing grading system also comes with some grace: You will be allowed one report "re-do" after receiving feedback from your instructors, and you will also be allowed one late lab report (as late as is necessary to do it well, until the last day of classes).

Each laboratory report is due one week after the relevant module(s) is(are) complete. The standard late hand-in penalty is 10 points (10%) per day !

More pointers for lab reports

Consider all the time you've spent reading textbooks, websites, and articles about chemistry, engineering and/or science;  you know what it is like to be the READER of scientific writing .

To WRITE science, you must keep the reader in mind .

  • WHO are your readers?
  • WHAT are you trying to communicate to your readers?
  • WHY should the reader be interested in what you are trying to communicate?

Envision Your Readers 

It helps to envision a specific person who you care about and who you would want to understand what you are writing. Think of someone who is smart, and someone who you respect, but who is not an expert (or even knowledgeable!) in the stuff you’ve been learning about (the type of work, the instruments, etc).

  • a friend who has had organic chemistry, but not this class.
  • any faculty member in the chemistry department regardless of sub-discipline.
  • a smart and geeky friend who is a Math/Physics/English major.

These people are smart, but they don’t know the technical stuff that you do. Therefore, limit your use of jargon, and explain or define all key terms and concepts that are specific to what you are trying to communicate.

Use references to demonstrate importance

One of the best ways to address the importance/relevance in the introduction section is to find a current journal article that relates to the chemicals or methods used in your experiment and use it as an example to demonstrate importance (and, you may learn a thing or two about a field of science that is not well known to you!).  Don't forget to cite the reference using ACS formatting (superscripted number at the end of the sentence, and a full list of the citations at the end of the document)!

Write clearly

BE BRIEF AND CONCISE!

This is one of the most difficult aspects of good writing to master. Read over your first draft and be ruthless in chopping out superfluous words, phrases, or sentences. Learn to be economical in expressing yourself. The total length of the lab report should be less than 15 pages (but please don't aim for 15! That's really long!). Short is sweet !

GRAMMAR and SPELLING MATTER!

You will not be penalized for the occasional typographical error, but a report full of spelling errors will be penalized. If poor grammar and spelling are at the point that it is distracting to the reader, or in any way make the report difficult to read, that is a problem. Take the time to proofread the draft of your text at least once.

TABLES, FIGURES, and EQUATIONS should be refered to and formatted correctly!

  • All tables should be numbered and titled above the table. The table headings should include the units.
  •  If the figure is a graph, the axes should be clearly labeled, including the units.
  • If more than one set of data is included on the graph, use different symbols and a legend to identify them.
  • Tables and figures should be readable (watch font size!). One option to make figures or tables more legible is to make them large and put them on a septate page.
  • Be sure to refer to any table or figure in the text, e.g. "The current and potential values from which E and n were calculated are reported in Table 2, and plotted in Figure 3."
  • All equations presented in the text should be numbered and all symbols defined, as shown in the example below:

"The diffusion-limited current, \(i_d\), is related to the bulk analyte concentration, \(c_a\), by the following expression:

\[ \; \; i_d = nFSD_a^{1/2}c_a/(\pi \Delta t)^{1/2} \]

where n is the number of electrons transferred, F is the Faraday constant, S is the electrode area, D a is the diffusion coefficient of the analyte ion, and t is the time during which the current is sampled." Remember, the all-important criteria in determining the quality of the report are that it be clear, concise, and provide enough information so that anyone else with your level of experience could repeat your work without consulting you.

USE YOUR TIME WELL

The way we grade reports in this course is meant to incentivize you to write a "good" but not "perfect" report. You are writing to demonstrate thinking and understanding. The most important aspect is that you present the data and your analysis clearly and concisely. This can usually be done in 4 or 5 pages. Be sure to write clearly, include the major points, and present data well. You can save yourself a lot of time by creating good plots of data during lab time with the help of your TA's, discussing the data while in lab, and writing about it as soon as possible during or after the lab period.

Generic point rubric

The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Scientific Reports

What this handout is about.

This handout provides a general guide to writing reports about scientific research you’ve performed. In addition to describing the conventional rules about the format and content of a lab report, we’ll also attempt to convey why these rules exist, so you’ll get a clearer, more dependable idea of how to approach this writing situation. Readers of this handout may also find our handout on writing in the sciences useful.

Background and pre-writing

Why do we write research reports.

You did an experiment or study for your science class, and now you have to write it up for your teacher to review. You feel that you understood the background sufficiently, designed and completed the study effectively, obtained useful data, and can use those data to draw conclusions about a scientific process or principle. But how exactly do you write all that? What is your teacher expecting to see?

To take some of the guesswork out of answering these questions, try to think beyond the classroom setting. In fact, you and your teacher are both part of a scientific community, and the people who participate in this community tend to share the same values. As long as you understand and respect these values, your writing will likely meet the expectations of your audience—including your teacher.

So why are you writing this research report? The practical answer is “Because the teacher assigned it,” but that’s classroom thinking. Generally speaking, people investigating some scientific hypothesis have a responsibility to the rest of the scientific world to report their findings, particularly if these findings add to or contradict previous ideas. The people reading such reports have two primary goals:

  • They want to gather the information presented.
  • They want to know that the findings are legitimate.

Your job as a writer, then, is to fulfill these two goals.

How do I do that?

Good question. Here is the basic format scientists have designed for research reports:

  • Introduction

Methods and Materials

This format, sometimes called “IMRAD,” may take slightly different shapes depending on the discipline or audience; some ask you to include an abstract or separate section for the hypothesis, or call the Discussion section “Conclusions,” or change the order of the sections (some professional and academic journals require the Methods section to appear last). Overall, however, the IMRAD format was devised to represent a textual version of the scientific method.

The scientific method, you’ll probably recall, involves developing a hypothesis, testing it, and deciding whether your findings support the hypothesis. In essence, the format for a research report in the sciences mirrors the scientific method but fleshes out the process a little. Below, you’ll find a table that shows how each written section fits into the scientific method and what additional information it offers the reader.

Thinking of your research report as based on the scientific method, but elaborated in the ways described above, may help you to meet your audience’s expectations successfully. We’re going to proceed by explicitly connecting each section of the lab report to the scientific method, then explaining why and how you need to elaborate that section.

Although this handout takes each section in the order in which it should be presented in the final report, you may for practical reasons decide to compose sections in another order. For example, many writers find that composing their Methods and Results before the other sections helps to clarify their idea of the experiment or study as a whole. You might consider using each assignment to practice different approaches to drafting the report, to find the order that works best for you.

What should I do before drafting the lab report?

The best way to prepare to write the lab report is to make sure that you fully understand everything you need to about the experiment. Obviously, if you don’t quite know what went on during the lab, you’re going to find it difficult to explain the lab satisfactorily to someone else. To make sure you know enough to write the report, complete the following steps:

  • What are we going to do in this lab? (That is, what’s the procedure?)
  • Why are we going to do it that way?
  • What are we hoping to learn from this experiment?
  • Why would we benefit from this knowledge?
  • Consult your lab supervisor as you perform the lab. If you don’t know how to answer one of the questions above, for example, your lab supervisor will probably be able to explain it to you (or, at least, help you figure it out).
  • Plan the steps of the experiment carefully with your lab partners. The less you rush, the more likely it is that you’ll perform the experiment correctly and record your findings accurately. Also, take some time to think about the best way to organize the data before you have to start putting numbers down. If you can design a table to account for the data, that will tend to work much better than jotting results down hurriedly on a scrap piece of paper.
  • Record the data carefully so you get them right. You won’t be able to trust your conclusions if you have the wrong data, and your readers will know you messed up if the other three people in your group have “97 degrees” and you have “87.”
  • Consult with your lab partners about everything you do. Lab groups often make one of two mistakes: two people do all the work while two have a nice chat, or everybody works together until the group finishes gathering the raw data, then scrams outta there. Collaborate with your partners, even when the experiment is “over.” What trends did you observe? Was the hypothesis supported? Did you all get the same results? What kind of figure should you use to represent your findings? The whole group can work together to answer these questions.
  • Consider your audience. You may believe that audience is a non-issue: it’s your lab TA, right? Well, yes—but again, think beyond the classroom. If you write with only your lab instructor in mind, you may omit material that is crucial to a complete understanding of your experiment, because you assume the instructor knows all that stuff already. As a result, you may receive a lower grade, since your TA won’t be sure that you understand all the principles at work. Try to write towards a student in the same course but a different lab section. That student will have a fair degree of scientific expertise but won’t know much about your experiment particularly. Alternatively, you could envision yourself five years from now, after the reading and lectures for this course have faded a bit. What would you remember, and what would you need explained more clearly (as a refresher)?

Once you’ve completed these steps as you perform the experiment, you’ll be in a good position to draft an effective lab report.

Introductions

How do i write a strong introduction.

For the purposes of this handout, we’ll consider the Introduction to contain four basic elements: the purpose, the scientific literature relevant to the subject, the hypothesis, and the reasons you believed your hypothesis viable. Let’s start by going through each element of the Introduction to clarify what it covers and why it’s important. Then we can formulate a logical organizational strategy for the section.

The inclusion of the purpose (sometimes called the objective) of the experiment often confuses writers. The biggest misconception is that the purpose is the same as the hypothesis. Not quite. We’ll get to hypotheses in a minute, but basically they provide some indication of what you expect the experiment to show. The purpose is broader, and deals more with what you expect to gain through the experiment. In a professional setting, the hypothesis might have something to do with how cells react to a certain kind of genetic manipulation, but the purpose of the experiment is to learn more about potential cancer treatments. Undergraduate reports don’t often have this wide-ranging a goal, but you should still try to maintain the distinction between your hypothesis and your purpose. In a solubility experiment, for example, your hypothesis might talk about the relationship between temperature and the rate of solubility, but the purpose is probably to learn more about some specific scientific principle underlying the process of solubility.

For starters, most people say that you should write out your working hypothesis before you perform the experiment or study. Many beginning science students neglect to do so and find themselves struggling to remember precisely which variables were involved in the process or in what way the researchers felt that they were related. Write your hypothesis down as you develop it—you’ll be glad you did.

As for the form a hypothesis should take, it’s best not to be too fancy or complicated; an inventive style isn’t nearly so important as clarity here. There’s nothing wrong with beginning your hypothesis with the phrase, “It was hypothesized that . . .” Be as specific as you can about the relationship between the different objects of your study. In other words, explain that when term A changes, term B changes in this particular way. Readers of scientific writing are rarely content with the idea that a relationship between two terms exists—they want to know what that relationship entails.

Not a hypothesis:

“It was hypothesized that there is a significant relationship between the temperature of a solvent and the rate at which a solute dissolves.”

Hypothesis:

“It was hypothesized that as the temperature of a solvent increases, the rate at which a solute will dissolve in that solvent increases.”

Put more technically, most hypotheses contain both an independent and a dependent variable. The independent variable is what you manipulate to test the reaction; the dependent variable is what changes as a result of your manipulation. In the example above, the independent variable is the temperature of the solvent, and the dependent variable is the rate of solubility. Be sure that your hypothesis includes both variables.

Justify your hypothesis

You need to do more than tell your readers what your hypothesis is; you also need to assure them that this hypothesis was reasonable, given the circumstances. In other words, use the Introduction to explain that you didn’t just pluck your hypothesis out of thin air. (If you did pluck it out of thin air, your problems with your report will probably extend beyond using the appropriate format.) If you posit that a particular relationship exists between the independent and the dependent variable, what led you to believe your “guess” might be supported by evidence?

Scientists often refer to this type of justification as “motivating” the hypothesis, in the sense that something propelled them to make that prediction. Often, motivation includes what we already know—or rather, what scientists generally accept as true (see “Background/previous research” below). But you can also motivate your hypothesis by relying on logic or on your own observations. If you’re trying to decide which solutes will dissolve more rapidly in a solvent at increased temperatures, you might remember that some solids are meant to dissolve in hot water (e.g., bouillon cubes) and some are used for a function precisely because they withstand higher temperatures (they make saucepans out of something). Or you can think about whether you’ve noticed sugar dissolving more rapidly in your glass of iced tea or in your cup of coffee. Even such basic, outside-the-lab observations can help you justify your hypothesis as reasonable.

Background/previous research

This part of the Introduction demonstrates to the reader your awareness of how you’re building on other scientists’ work. If you think of the scientific community as engaging in a series of conversations about various topics, then you’ll recognize that the relevant background material will alert the reader to which conversation you want to enter.

Generally speaking, authors writing journal articles use the background for slightly different purposes than do students completing assignments. Because readers of academic journals tend to be professionals in the field, authors explain the background in order to permit readers to evaluate the study’s pertinence for their own work. You, on the other hand, write toward a much narrower audience—your peers in the course or your lab instructor—and so you must demonstrate that you understand the context for the (presumably assigned) experiment or study you’ve completed. For example, if your professor has been talking about polarity during lectures, and you’re doing a solubility experiment, you might try to connect the polarity of a solid to its relative solubility in certain solvents. In any event, both professional researchers and undergraduates need to connect the background material overtly to their own work.

Organization of this section

Most of the time, writers begin by stating the purpose or objectives of their own work, which establishes for the reader’s benefit the “nature and scope of the problem investigated” (Day 1994). Once you have expressed your purpose, you should then find it easier to move from the general purpose, to relevant material on the subject, to your hypothesis. In abbreviated form, an Introduction section might look like this:

“The purpose of the experiment was to test conventional ideas about solubility in the laboratory [purpose] . . . According to Whitecoat and Labrat (1999), at higher temperatures the molecules of solvents move more quickly . . . We know from the class lecture that molecules moving at higher rates of speed collide with one another more often and thus break down more easily [background material/motivation] . . . Thus, it was hypothesized that as the temperature of a solvent increases, the rate at which a solute will dissolve in that solvent increases [hypothesis].”

Again—these are guidelines, not commandments. Some writers and readers prefer different structures for the Introduction. The one above merely illustrates a common approach to organizing material.

How do I write a strong Materials and Methods section?

As with any piece of writing, your Methods section will succeed only if it fulfills its readers’ expectations, so you need to be clear in your own mind about the purpose of this section. Let’s review the purpose as we described it above: in this section, you want to describe in detail how you tested the hypothesis you developed and also to clarify the rationale for your procedure. In science, it’s not sufficient merely to design and carry out an experiment. Ultimately, others must be able to verify your findings, so your experiment must be reproducible, to the extent that other researchers can follow the same procedure and obtain the same (or similar) results.

Here’s a real-world example of the importance of reproducibility. In 1989, physicists Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischman announced that they had discovered “cold fusion,” a way of producing excess heat and power without the nuclear radiation that accompanies “hot fusion.” Such a discovery could have great ramifications for the industrial production of energy, so these findings created a great deal of interest. When other scientists tried to duplicate the experiment, however, they didn’t achieve the same results, and as a result many wrote off the conclusions as unjustified (or worse, a hoax). To this day, the viability of cold fusion is debated within the scientific community, even though an increasing number of researchers believe it possible. So when you write your Methods section, keep in mind that you need to describe your experiment well enough to allow others to replicate it exactly.

With these goals in mind, let’s consider how to write an effective Methods section in terms of content, structure, and style.

Sometimes the hardest thing about writing this section isn’t what you should talk about, but what you shouldn’t talk about. Writers often want to include the results of their experiment, because they measured and recorded the results during the course of the experiment. But such data should be reserved for the Results section. In the Methods section, you can write that you recorded the results, or how you recorded the results (e.g., in a table), but you shouldn’t write what the results were—not yet. Here, you’re merely stating exactly how you went about testing your hypothesis. As you draft your Methods section, ask yourself the following questions:

  • How much detail? Be precise in providing details, but stay relevant. Ask yourself, “Would it make any difference if this piece were a different size or made from a different material?” If not, you probably don’t need to get too specific. If so, you should give as many details as necessary to prevent this experiment from going awry if someone else tries to carry it out. Probably the most crucial detail is measurement; you should always quantify anything you can, such as time elapsed, temperature, mass, volume, etc.
  • Rationale: Be sure that as you’re relating your actions during the experiment, you explain your rationale for the protocol you developed. If you capped a test tube immediately after adding a solute to a solvent, why did you do that? (That’s really two questions: why did you cap it, and why did you cap it immediately?) In a professional setting, writers provide their rationale as a way to explain their thinking to potential critics. On one hand, of course, that’s your motivation for talking about protocol, too. On the other hand, since in practical terms you’re also writing to your teacher (who’s seeking to evaluate how well you comprehend the principles of the experiment), explaining the rationale indicates that you understand the reasons for conducting the experiment in that way, and that you’re not just following orders. Critical thinking is crucial—robots don’t make good scientists.
  • Control: Most experiments will include a control, which is a means of comparing experimental results. (Sometimes you’ll need to have more than one control, depending on the number of hypotheses you want to test.) The control is exactly the same as the other items you’re testing, except that you don’t manipulate the independent variable-the condition you’re altering to check the effect on the dependent variable. For example, if you’re testing solubility rates at increased temperatures, your control would be a solution that you didn’t heat at all; that way, you’ll see how quickly the solute dissolves “naturally” (i.e., without manipulation), and you’ll have a point of reference against which to compare the solutions you did heat.

Describe the control in the Methods section. Two things are especially important in writing about the control: identify the control as a control, and explain what you’re controlling for. Here is an example:

“As a control for the temperature change, we placed the same amount of solute in the same amount of solvent, and let the solution stand for five minutes without heating it.”

Structure and style

Organization is especially important in the Methods section of a lab report because readers must understand your experimental procedure completely. Many writers are surprised by the difficulty of conveying what they did during the experiment, since after all they’re only reporting an event, but it’s often tricky to present this information in a coherent way. There’s a fairly standard structure you can use to guide you, and following the conventions for style can help clarify your points.

  • Subsections: Occasionally, researchers use subsections to report their procedure when the following circumstances apply: 1) if they’ve used a great many materials; 2) if the procedure is unusually complicated; 3) if they’ve developed a procedure that won’t be familiar to many of their readers. Because these conditions rarely apply to the experiments you’ll perform in class, most undergraduate lab reports won’t require you to use subsections. In fact, many guides to writing lab reports suggest that you try to limit your Methods section to a single paragraph.
  • Narrative structure: Think of this section as telling a story about a group of people and the experiment they performed. Describe what you did in the order in which you did it. You may have heard the old joke centered on the line, “Disconnect the red wire, but only after disconnecting the green wire,” where the person reading the directions blows everything to kingdom come because the directions weren’t in order. We’re used to reading about events chronologically, and so your readers will generally understand what you did if you present that information in the same way. Also, since the Methods section does generally appear as a narrative (story), you want to avoid the “recipe” approach: “First, take a clean, dry 100 ml test tube from the rack. Next, add 50 ml of distilled water.” You should be reporting what did happen, not telling the reader how to perform the experiment: “50 ml of distilled water was poured into a clean, dry 100 ml test tube.” Hint: most of the time, the recipe approach comes from copying down the steps of the procedure from your lab manual, so you may want to draft the Methods section initially without consulting your manual. Later, of course, you can go back and fill in any part of the procedure you inadvertently overlooked.
  • Past tense: Remember that you’re describing what happened, so you should use past tense to refer to everything you did during the experiment. Writers are often tempted to use the imperative (“Add 5 g of the solid to the solution”) because that’s how their lab manuals are worded; less frequently, they use present tense (“5 g of the solid are added to the solution”). Instead, remember that you’re talking about an event which happened at a particular time in the past, and which has already ended by the time you start writing, so simple past tense will be appropriate in this section (“5 g of the solid were added to the solution” or “We added 5 g of the solid to the solution”).
  • Active: We heated the solution to 80°C. (The subject, “we,” performs the action, heating.)
  • Passive: The solution was heated to 80°C. (The subject, “solution,” doesn’t do the heating–it is acted upon, not acting.)

Increasingly, especially in the social sciences, using first person and active voice is acceptable in scientific reports. Most readers find that this style of writing conveys information more clearly and concisely. This rhetorical choice thus brings two scientific values into conflict: objectivity versus clarity. Since the scientific community hasn’t reached a consensus about which style it prefers, you may want to ask your lab instructor.

How do I write a strong Results section?

Here’s a paradox for you. The Results section is often both the shortest (yay!) and most important (uh-oh!) part of your report. Your Materials and Methods section shows how you obtained the results, and your Discussion section explores the significance of the results, so clearly the Results section forms the backbone of the lab report. This section provides the most critical information about your experiment: the data that allow you to discuss how your hypothesis was or wasn’t supported. But it doesn’t provide anything else, which explains why this section is generally shorter than the others.

Before you write this section, look at all the data you collected to figure out what relates significantly to your hypothesis. You’ll want to highlight this material in your Results section. Resist the urge to include every bit of data you collected, since perhaps not all are relevant. Also, don’t try to draw conclusions about the results—save them for the Discussion section. In this section, you’re reporting facts. Nothing your readers can dispute should appear in the Results section.

Most Results sections feature three distinct parts: text, tables, and figures. Let’s consider each part one at a time.

This should be a short paragraph, generally just a few lines, that describes the results you obtained from your experiment. In a relatively simple experiment, one that doesn’t produce a lot of data for you to repeat, the text can represent the entire Results section. Don’t feel that you need to include lots of extraneous detail to compensate for a short (but effective) text; your readers appreciate discrimination more than your ability to recite facts. In a more complex experiment, you may want to use tables and/or figures to help guide your readers toward the most important information you gathered. In that event, you’ll need to refer to each table or figure directly, where appropriate:

“Table 1 lists the rates of solubility for each substance”

“Solubility increased as the temperature of the solution increased (see Figure 1).”

If you do use tables or figures, make sure that you don’t present the same material in both the text and the tables/figures, since in essence you’ll just repeat yourself, probably annoying your readers with the redundancy of your statements.

Feel free to describe trends that emerge as you examine the data. Although identifying trends requires some judgment on your part and so may not feel like factual reporting, no one can deny that these trends do exist, and so they properly belong in the Results section. Example:

“Heating the solution increased the rate of solubility of polar solids by 45% but had no effect on the rate of solubility in solutions containing non-polar solids.”

This point isn’t debatable—you’re just pointing out what the data show.

As in the Materials and Methods section, you want to refer to your data in the past tense, because the events you recorded have already occurred and have finished occurring. In the example above, note the use of “increased” and “had,” rather than “increases” and “has.” (You don’t know from your experiment that heating always increases the solubility of polar solids, but it did that time.)

You shouldn’t put information in the table that also appears in the text. You also shouldn’t use a table to present irrelevant data, just to show you did collect these data during the experiment. Tables are good for some purposes and situations, but not others, so whether and how you’ll use tables depends upon what you need them to accomplish.

Tables are useful ways to show variation in data, but not to present a great deal of unchanging measurements. If you’re dealing with a scientific phenomenon that occurs only within a certain range of temperatures, for example, you don’t need to use a table to show that the phenomenon didn’t occur at any of the other temperatures. How useful is this table?

A table labeled Effect of Temperature on Rate of Solubility with temperature of solvent values in 10-degree increments from -20 degrees Celsius to 80 degrees Celsius that does not show a corresponding rate of solubility value until 50 degrees Celsius.

As you can probably see, no solubility was observed until the trial temperature reached 50°C, a fact that the text part of the Results section could easily convey. The table could then be limited to what happened at 50°C and higher, thus better illustrating the differences in solubility rates when solubility did occur.

As a rule, try not to use a table to describe any experimental event you can cover in one sentence of text. Here’s an example of an unnecessary table from How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper , by Robert A. Day:

A table labeled Oxygen requirements of various species of Streptomyces showing the names of organisms and two columns that indicate growth under aerobic conditions and growth under anaerobic conditions with a plus or minus symbol for each organism in the growth columns to indicate value.

As Day notes, all the information in this table can be summarized in one sentence: “S. griseus, S. coelicolor, S. everycolor, and S. rainbowenski grew under aerobic conditions, whereas S. nocolor and S. greenicus required anaerobic conditions.” Most readers won’t find the table clearer than that one sentence.

When you do have reason to tabulate material, pay attention to the clarity and readability of the format you use. Here are a few tips:

  • Number your table. Then, when you refer to the table in the text, use that number to tell your readers which table they can review to clarify the material.
  • Give your table a title. This title should be descriptive enough to communicate the contents of the table, but not so long that it becomes difficult to follow. The titles in the sample tables above are acceptable.
  • Arrange your table so that readers read vertically, not horizontally. For the most part, this rule means that you should construct your table so that like elements read down, not across. Think about what you want your readers to compare, and put that information in the column (up and down) rather than in the row (across). Usually, the point of comparison will be the numerical data you collect, so especially make sure you have columns of numbers, not rows.Here’s an example of how drastically this decision affects the readability of your table (from A Short Guide to Writing about Chemistry , by Herbert Beall and John Trimbur). Look at this table, which presents the relevant data in horizontal rows:

A table labeled Boyle's Law Experiment: Measuring Volume as a Function of Pressure that presents the trial number, length of air sample in millimeters, and height difference in inches of mercury, each of which is presented in rows horizontally.

It’s a little tough to see the trends that the author presumably wants to present in this table. Compare this table, in which the data appear vertically:

A table labeled Boyle's Law Experiment: Measuring Volume as a Function of Pressure that presents the trial number, length of air sample in millimeters, and height difference in inches of mercury, each of which is presented in columns vertically.

The second table shows how putting like elements in a vertical column makes for easier reading. In this case, the like elements are the measurements of length and height, over five trials–not, as in the first table, the length and height measurements for each trial.

  • Make sure to include units of measurement in the tables. Readers might be able to guess that you measured something in millimeters, but don’t make them try.
  • Don’t use vertical lines as part of the format for your table. This convention exists because journals prefer not to have to reproduce these lines because the tables then become more expensive to print. Even though it’s fairly unlikely that you’ll be sending your Biology 11 lab report to Science for publication, your readers still have this expectation. Consequently, if you use the table-drawing option in your word-processing software, choose the option that doesn’t rely on a “grid” format (which includes vertical lines).

How do I include figures in my report?

Although tables can be useful ways of showing trends in the results you obtained, figures (i.e., illustrations) can do an even better job of emphasizing such trends. Lab report writers often use graphic representations of the data they collected to provide their readers with a literal picture of how the experiment went.

When should you use a figure?

Remember the circumstances under which you don’t need a table: when you don’t have a great deal of data or when the data you have don’t vary a lot. Under the same conditions, you would probably forgo the figure as well, since the figure would be unlikely to provide your readers with an additional perspective. Scientists really don’t like their time wasted, so they tend not to respond favorably to redundancy.

If you’re trying to decide between using a table and creating a figure to present your material, consider the following a rule of thumb. The strength of a table lies in its ability to supply large amounts of exact data, whereas the strength of a figure is its dramatic illustration of important trends within the experiment. If you feel that your readers won’t get the full impact of the results you obtained just by looking at the numbers, then a figure might be appropriate.

Of course, an undergraduate class may expect you to create a figure for your lab experiment, if only to make sure that you can do so effectively. If this is the case, then don’t worry about whether to use figures or not—concentrate instead on how best to accomplish your task.

Figures can include maps, photographs, pen-and-ink drawings, flow charts, bar graphs, and section graphs (“pie charts”). But the most common figure by far, especially for undergraduates, is the line graph, so we’ll focus on that type in this handout.

At the undergraduate level, you can often draw and label your graphs by hand, provided that the result is clear, legible, and drawn to scale. Computer technology has, however, made creating line graphs a lot easier. Most word-processing software has a number of functions for transferring data into graph form; many scientists have found Microsoft Excel, for example, a helpful tool in graphing results. If you plan on pursuing a career in the sciences, it may be well worth your while to learn to use a similar program.

Computers can’t, however, decide for you how your graph really works; you have to know how to design your graph to meet your readers’ expectations. Here are some of these expectations:

  • Keep it as simple as possible. You may be tempted to signal the complexity of the information you gathered by trying to design a graph that accounts for that complexity. But remember the purpose of your graph: to dramatize your results in a manner that’s easy to see and grasp. Try not to make the reader stare at the graph for a half hour to find the important line among the mass of other lines. For maximum effectiveness, limit yourself to three to five lines per graph; if you have more data to demonstrate, use a set of graphs to account for it, rather than trying to cram it all into a single figure.
  • Plot the independent variable on the horizontal (x) axis and the dependent variable on the vertical (y) axis. Remember that the independent variable is the condition that you manipulated during the experiment and the dependent variable is the condition that you measured to see if it changed along with the independent variable. Placing the variables along their respective axes is mostly just a convention, but since your readers are accustomed to viewing graphs in this way, you’re better off not challenging the convention in your report.
  • Label each axis carefully, and be especially careful to include units of measure. You need to make sure that your readers understand perfectly well what your graph indicates.
  • Number and title your graphs. As with tables, the title of the graph should be informative but concise, and you should refer to your graph by number in the text (e.g., “Figure 1 shows the increase in the solubility rate as a function of temperature”).
  • Many editors of professional scientific journals prefer that writers distinguish the lines in their graphs by attaching a symbol to them, usually a geometric shape (triangle, square, etc.), and using that symbol throughout the curve of the line. Generally, readers have a hard time distinguishing dotted lines from dot-dash lines from straight lines, so you should consider staying away from this system. Editors don’t usually like different-colored lines within a graph because colors are difficult and expensive to reproduce; colors may, however, be great for your purposes, as long as you’re not planning to submit your paper to Nature. Use your discretion—try to employ whichever technique dramatizes the results most effectively.
  • Try to gather data at regular intervals, so the plot points on your graph aren’t too far apart. You can’t be sure of the arc you should draw between the plot points if the points are located at the far corners of the graph; over a fifteen-minute interval, perhaps the change occurred in the first or last thirty seconds of that period (in which case your straight-line connection between the points is misleading).
  • If you’re worried that you didn’t collect data at sufficiently regular intervals during your experiment, go ahead and connect the points with a straight line, but you may want to examine this problem as part of your Discussion section.
  • Make your graph large enough so that everything is legible and clearly demarcated, but not so large that it either overwhelms the rest of the Results section or provides a far greater range than you need to illustrate your point. If, for example, the seedlings of your plant grew only 15 mm during the trial, you don’t need to construct a graph that accounts for 100 mm of growth. The lines in your graph should more or less fill the space created by the axes; if you see that your data is confined to the lower left portion of the graph, you should probably re-adjust your scale.
  • If you create a set of graphs, make them the same size and format, including all the verbal and visual codes (captions, symbols, scale, etc.). You want to be as consistent as possible in your illustrations, so that your readers can easily make the comparisons you’re trying to get them to see.

How do I write a strong Discussion section?

The discussion section is probably the least formalized part of the report, in that you can’t really apply the same structure to every type of experiment. In simple terms, here you tell your readers what to make of the Results you obtained. If you have done the Results part well, your readers should already recognize the trends in the data and have a fairly clear idea of whether your hypothesis was supported. Because the Results can seem so self-explanatory, many students find it difficult to know what material to add in this last section.

Basically, the Discussion contains several parts, in no particular order, but roughly moving from specific (i.e., related to your experiment only) to general (how your findings fit in the larger scientific community). In this section, you will, as a rule, need to:

Explain whether the data support your hypothesis

  • Acknowledge any anomalous data or deviations from what you expected

Derive conclusions, based on your findings, about the process you’re studying

  • Relate your findings to earlier work in the same area (if you can)

Explore the theoretical and/or practical implications of your findings

Let’s look at some dos and don’ts for each of these objectives.

This statement is usually a good way to begin the Discussion, since you can’t effectively speak about the larger scientific value of your study until you’ve figured out the particulars of this experiment. You might begin this part of the Discussion by explicitly stating the relationships or correlations your data indicate between the independent and dependent variables. Then you can show more clearly why you believe your hypothesis was or was not supported. For example, if you tested solubility at various temperatures, you could start this section by noting that the rates of solubility increased as the temperature increased. If your initial hypothesis surmised that temperature change would not affect solubility, you would then say something like,

“The hypothesis that temperature change would not affect solubility was not supported by the data.”

Note: Students tend to view labs as practical tests of undeniable scientific truths. As a result, you may want to say that the hypothesis was “proved” or “disproved” or that it was “correct” or “incorrect.” These terms, however, reflect a degree of certainty that you as a scientist aren’t supposed to have. Remember, you’re testing a theory with a procedure that lasts only a few hours and relies on only a few trials, which severely compromises your ability to be sure about the “truth” you see. Words like “supported,” “indicated,” and “suggested” are more acceptable ways to evaluate your hypothesis.

Also, recognize that saying whether the data supported your hypothesis or not involves making a claim to be defended. As such, you need to show the readers that this claim is warranted by the evidence. Make sure that you’re very explicit about the relationship between the evidence and the conclusions you draw from it. This process is difficult for many writers because we don’t often justify conclusions in our regular lives. For example, you might nudge your friend at a party and whisper, “That guy’s drunk,” and once your friend lays eyes on the person in question, she might readily agree. In a scientific paper, by contrast, you would need to defend your claim more thoroughly by pointing to data such as slurred words, unsteady gait, and the lampshade-as-hat. In addition to pointing out these details, you would also need to show how (according to previous studies) these signs are consistent with inebriation, especially if they occur in conjunction with one another. To put it another way, tell your readers exactly how you got from point A (was the hypothesis supported?) to point B (yes/no).

Acknowledge any anomalous data, or deviations from what you expected

You need to take these exceptions and divergences into account, so that you qualify your conclusions sufficiently. For obvious reasons, your readers will doubt your authority if you (deliberately or inadvertently) overlook a key piece of data that doesn’t square with your perspective on what occurred. In a more philosophical sense, once you’ve ignored evidence that contradicts your claims, you’ve departed from the scientific method. The urge to “tidy up” the experiment is often strong, but if you give in to it you’re no longer performing good science.

Sometimes after you’ve performed a study or experiment, you realize that some part of the methods you used to test your hypothesis was flawed. In that case, it’s OK to suggest that if you had the chance to conduct your test again, you might change the design in this or that specific way in order to avoid such and such a problem. The key to making this approach work, though, is to be very precise about the weakness in your experiment, why and how you think that weakness might have affected your data, and how you would alter your protocol to eliminate—or limit the effects of—that weakness. Often, inexperienced researchers and writers feel the need to account for “wrong” data (remember, there’s no such animal), and so they speculate wildly about what might have screwed things up. These speculations include such factors as the unusually hot temperature in the room, or the possibility that their lab partners read the meters wrong, or the potentially defective equipment. These explanations are what scientists call “cop-outs,” or “lame”; don’t indicate that the experiment had a weakness unless you’re fairly certain that a) it really occurred and b) you can explain reasonably well how that weakness affected your results.

If, for example, your hypothesis dealt with the changes in solubility at different temperatures, then try to figure out what you can rationally say about the process of solubility more generally. If you’re doing an undergraduate lab, chances are that the lab will connect in some way to the material you’ve been covering either in lecture or in your reading, so you might choose to return to these resources as a way to help you think clearly about the process as a whole.

This part of the Discussion section is another place where you need to make sure that you’re not overreaching. Again, nothing you’ve found in one study would remotely allow you to claim that you now “know” something, or that something isn’t “true,” or that your experiment “confirmed” some principle or other. Hesitate before you go out on a limb—it’s dangerous! Use less absolutely conclusive language, including such words as “suggest,” “indicate,” “correspond,” “possibly,” “challenge,” etc.

Relate your findings to previous work in the field (if possible)

We’ve been talking about how to show that you belong in a particular community (such as biologists or anthropologists) by writing within conventions that they recognize and accept. Another is to try to identify a conversation going on among members of that community, and use your work to contribute to that conversation. In a larger philosophical sense, scientists can’t fully understand the value of their research unless they have some sense of the context that provoked and nourished it. That is, you have to recognize what’s new about your project (potentially, anyway) and how it benefits the wider body of scientific knowledge. On a more pragmatic level, especially for undergraduates, connecting your lab work to previous research will demonstrate to the TA that you see the big picture. You have an opportunity, in the Discussion section, to distinguish yourself from the students in your class who aren’t thinking beyond the barest facts of the study. Capitalize on this opportunity by putting your own work in context.

If you’re just beginning to work in the natural sciences (as a first-year biology or chemistry student, say), most likely the work you’ll be doing has already been performed and re-performed to a satisfactory degree. Hence, you could probably point to a similar experiment or study and compare/contrast your results and conclusions. More advanced work may deal with an issue that is somewhat less “resolved,” and so previous research may take the form of an ongoing debate, and you can use your own work to weigh in on that debate. If, for example, researchers are hotly disputing the value of herbal remedies for the common cold, and the results of your study suggest that Echinacea diminishes the symptoms but not the actual presence of the cold, then you might want to take some time in the Discussion section to recapitulate the specifics of the dispute as it relates to Echinacea as an herbal remedy. (Consider that you have probably already written in the Introduction about this debate as background research.)

This information is often the best way to end your Discussion (and, for all intents and purposes, the report). In argumentative writing generally, you want to use your closing words to convey the main point of your writing. This main point can be primarily theoretical (“Now that you understand this information, you’re in a better position to understand this larger issue”) or primarily practical (“You can use this information to take such and such an action”). In either case, the concluding statements help the reader to comprehend the significance of your project and your decision to write about it.

Since a lab report is argumentative—after all, you’re investigating a claim, and judging the legitimacy of that claim by generating and collecting evidence—it’s often a good idea to end your report with the same technique for establishing your main point. If you want to go the theoretical route, you might talk about the consequences your study has for the field or phenomenon you’re investigating. To return to the examples regarding solubility, you could end by reflecting on what your work on solubility as a function of temperature tells us (potentially) about solubility in general. (Some folks consider this type of exploration “pure” as opposed to “applied” science, although these labels can be problematic.) If you want to go the practical route, you could end by speculating about the medical, institutional, or commercial implications of your findings—in other words, answer the question, “What can this study help people to do?” In either case, you’re going to make your readers’ experience more satisfying, by helping them see why they spent their time learning what you had to teach them.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

American Psychological Association. 2010. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association . 6th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Beall, Herbert, and John Trimbur. 2001. A Short Guide to Writing About Chemistry , 2nd ed. New York: Longman.

Blum, Deborah, and Mary Knudson. 1997. A Field Guide for Science Writers: The Official Guide of the National Association of Science Writers . New York: Oxford University Press.

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, Joseph Bizup, and William T. FitzGerald. 2016. The Craft of Research , 4th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Briscoe, Mary Helen. 1996. Preparing Scientific Illustrations: A Guide to Better Posters, Presentations, and Publications , 2nd ed. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Council of Science Editors. 2014. Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers , 8th ed. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press.

Davis, Martha. 2012. Scientific Papers and Presentations , 3rd ed. London: Academic Press.

Day, Robert A. 1994. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper , 4th ed. Phoenix: Oryx Press.

Porush, David. 1995. A Short Guide to Writing About Science . New York: Longman.

Williams, Joseph, and Joseph Bizup. 2017. Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace , 12th ed. Boston: Pearson.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Make a Gift

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

  • Knowledge Base
  • Dissertation
  • How to Write a Results Section | Tips & Examples

How to Write a Results Section | Tips & Examples

Published on August 30, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on July 18, 2023.

A results section is where you report the main findings of the data collection and analysis you conducted for your thesis or dissertation . You should report all relevant results concisely and objectively, in a logical order. Don’t include subjective interpretations of why you found these results or what they mean—any evaluation should be saved for the discussion section .

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

upload-your-document-ai-proofreader

Table of contents

How to write a results section, reporting quantitative research results, reporting qualitative research results, results vs. discussion vs. conclusion, checklist: research results, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about results sections.

When conducting research, it’s important to report the results of your study prior to discussing your interpretations of it. This gives your reader a clear idea of exactly what you found and keeps the data itself separate from your subjective analysis.

Here are a few best practices:

  • Your results should always be written in the past tense.
  • While the length of this section depends on how much data you collected and analyzed, it should be written as concisely as possible.
  • Only include results that are directly relevant to answering your research questions . Avoid speculative or interpretative words like “appears” or “implies.”
  • If you have other results you’d like to include, consider adding them to an appendix or footnotes.
  • Always start out with your broadest results first, and then flow into your more granular (but still relevant) ones. Think of it like a shoe store: first discuss the shoes as a whole, then the sneakers, boots, sandals, etc.

The only proofreading tool specialized in correcting academic writing - try for free!

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts and by native English editors. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students.

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Try for free

If you conducted quantitative research , you’ll likely be working with the results of some sort of statistical analysis .

Your results section should report the results of any statistical tests you used to compare groups or assess relationships between variables . It should also state whether or not each hypothesis was supported.

The most logical way to structure quantitative results is to frame them around your research questions or hypotheses. For each question or hypothesis, share:

  • A reminder of the type of analysis you used (e.g., a two-sample t test or simple linear regression ). A more detailed description of your analysis should go in your methodology section.
  • A concise summary of each relevant result, both positive and negative. This can include any relevant descriptive statistics (e.g., means and standard deviations ) as well as inferential statistics (e.g., t scores, degrees of freedom , and p values ). Remember, these numbers are often placed in parentheses.
  • A brief statement of how each result relates to the question, or whether the hypothesis was supported. You can briefly mention any results that didn’t fit with your expectations and assumptions, but save any speculation on their meaning or consequences for your discussion  and conclusion.

A note on tables and figures

In quantitative research, it’s often helpful to include visual elements such as graphs, charts, and tables , but only if they are directly relevant to your results. Give these elements clear, descriptive titles and labels so that your reader can easily understand what is being shown. If you want to include any other visual elements that are more tangential in nature, consider adding a figure and table list .

As a rule of thumb:

  • Tables are used to communicate exact values, giving a concise overview of various results
  • Graphs and charts are used to visualize trends and relationships, giving an at-a-glance illustration of key findings

Don’t forget to also mention any tables and figures you used within the text of your results section. Summarize or elaborate on specific aspects you think your reader should know about rather than merely restating the same numbers already shown.

A two-sample t test was used to test the hypothesis that higher social distance from environmental problems would reduce the intent to donate to environmental organizations, with donation intention (recorded as a score from 1 to 10) as the outcome variable and social distance (categorized as either a low or high level of social distance) as the predictor variable.Social distance was found to be positively correlated with donation intention, t (98) = 12.19, p < .001, with the donation intention of the high social distance group 0.28 points higher, on average, than the low social distance group (see figure 1). This contradicts the initial hypothesis that social distance would decrease donation intention, and in fact suggests a small effect in the opposite direction.

Example of using figures in the results section

Figure 1: Intention to donate to environmental organizations based on social distance from impact of environmental damage.

In qualitative research , your results might not all be directly related to specific hypotheses. In this case, you can structure your results section around key themes or topics that emerged from your analysis of the data.

For each theme, start with general observations about what the data showed. You can mention:

  • Recurring points of agreement or disagreement
  • Patterns and trends
  • Particularly significant snippets from individual responses

Next, clarify and support these points with direct quotations. Be sure to report any relevant demographic information about participants. Further information (such as full transcripts , if appropriate) can be included in an appendix .

When asked about video games as a form of art, the respondents tended to believe that video games themselves are not an art form, but agreed that creativity is involved in their production. The criteria used to identify artistic video games included design, story, music, and creative teams.One respondent (male, 24) noted a difference in creativity between popular video game genres:

“I think that in role-playing games, there’s more attention to character design, to world design, because the whole story is important and more attention is paid to certain game elements […] so that perhaps you do need bigger teams of creative experts than in an average shooter or something.”

Responses suggest that video game consumers consider some types of games to have more artistic potential than others.

Your results section should objectively report your findings, presenting only brief observations in relation to each question, hypothesis, or theme.

It should not  speculate about the meaning of the results or attempt to answer your main research question . Detailed interpretation of your results is more suitable for your discussion section , while synthesis of your results into an overall answer to your main research question is best left for your conclusion .

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

Discover proofreading & editing

I have completed my data collection and analyzed the results.

I have included all results that are relevant to my research questions.

I have concisely and objectively reported each result, including relevant descriptive statistics and inferential statistics .

I have stated whether each hypothesis was supported or refuted.

I have used tables and figures to illustrate my results where appropriate.

All tables and figures are correctly labelled and referred to in the text.

There is no subjective interpretation or speculation on the meaning of the results.

You've finished writing up your results! Use the other checklists to further improve your thesis.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

Research bias

  • Survivorship bias
  • Self-serving bias
  • Availability heuristic
  • Halo effect
  • Hindsight bias
  • Deep learning
  • Generative AI
  • Machine learning
  • Reinforcement learning
  • Supervised vs. unsupervised learning

 (AI) Tools

  • Grammar Checker
  • Paraphrasing Tool
  • Text Summarizer
  • AI Detector
  • Plagiarism Checker
  • Citation Generator

The results chapter of a thesis or dissertation presents your research results concisely and objectively.

In quantitative research , for each question or hypothesis , state:

  • The type of analysis used
  • Relevant results in the form of descriptive and inferential statistics
  • Whether or not the alternative hypothesis was supported

In qualitative research , for each question or theme, describe:

  • Recurring patterns
  • Significant or representative individual responses
  • Relevant quotations from the data

Don’t interpret or speculate in the results chapter.

Results are usually written in the past tense , because they are describing the outcome of completed actions.

The results chapter or section simply and objectively reports what you found, without speculating on why you found these results. The discussion interprets the meaning of the results, puts them in context, and explains why they matter.

In qualitative research , results and discussion are sometimes combined. But in quantitative research , it’s considered important to separate the objective results from your interpretation of them.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2023, July 18). How to Write a Results Section | Tips & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved February 26, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/results/

Is this article helpful?

Tegan George

Tegan George

Other students also liked, what is a research methodology | steps & tips, how to write a discussion section | tips & examples, how to write a thesis or dissertation conclusion, what is your plagiarism score.

Conclude and evaluate

  • A conclusion sums up what has been found out during an investigation.
  • A conclusion should be clearly structured and explained using scientific knowledge.
  • At the end of an investigation, evaluate the results and method to judge how reliable the conclusion is.

What do you analyse to draw a conclusion in science?

Show answer Hide answer

Information or data.

Watch this video about how to draw conclusions from information and evaluate experiments.

This video can not be played

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

While you are watching, check how patterns in the data from the experiments are linked to the conclusion

Video Transcript Video Transcript

Presenter 2: We have been investigating how the height from which you drop a single ball affects how high it bounces.

Presenter 1: We will also use the results to write a conclusion and evaluate the experiment. What do your results show?

Presenter 2: The line of best fit shows that as you increase the height from which you dropped the ball, then the bounce gets higher also.

Presenter 1: As the independent variable on the x axis increases, so does the dependent variable on the y axis.

Presenter 2: A conclusion sums up what has been found in our investigation. So we can conclude that the greater the height from which you drop a ball, the higher it bounces.

Presenter 1: So, why does this happen then?

Presenter 2: Think about an elastic band. The more energy you use to pull the elastic band back, the further it will travel when you let it go.

Presenter 1: Oh, I see! The higher you drop the ball, the more energy it has when it hits the ground.

Presenter 2: So, the more energy it will have to bounce back up.

Presenter 1: In evaluating this experiment, we need to look at our method and results. When we look at our method, we check that we changed only one variable, measured another one and kept all the rest the same.

Presenter 2: So, we changed the height of the ball drop, which is the independent variable. We measured the height it bounced, which is the dependent variable. We kept all others the same - we controlled them. These include the type of ball and the floor that we dropped it on.

We filmed it so we could slow it down and read the measurement more accurately. Because we did all this, we know we have a valid experiment. When we look at our results we can ask ourselves these questions.

Are the readings a long way from the others? In other words, are there outliers?

And what is the spread of our results?

Presenter 1: To interpret what our results mean, we need to identify any patternsin our data by looking at our graph. We'll try the same experiment,but with a different type of ball.

Presenter 2: Now we can conclude that the greater the height you drop the ball and the type of ball you use, the more energy it will have and the higher it will bounce.

Presenter 1: We have used our knowledge to interpret our results. Then we wrote a conclusion and evaluated our method.

Interpreting data

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Step 1 - Data interpretation

A good conclusion describes the relationship between variables, interpreted from a table of data, a graph or a chart.

Sugar cubes on scales; the cubes are on a white plate.

Step 2 - Experiment carried out

An experiment was carried out to model the concept of erosion. Sugar cubes were shaken in a container and weighed every 20 seconds to see how the mass had changed. Any small parts of the cubes that had broken off during the shaking were removed before the mass was measured.

Person's hand plots results on a graph, using an orange pencil.

Step 3 - Results interpretation

Results from the sugar cube experiment would be recorded in a table. Results would show that the longer the sugar cubes were shaken for, the less their mass was. A good conclusion using this information would be: ‘the results show that the mass of the sugar cubes decreased as they were shaken for longer. The conclusion supports the hypothesis because it shows that erosion wears away material over time.'

A bar chart that has been chalked. The chart shows bars decreasing in size.

Step 4 - Data presentation

The results from the experiment can also be shown using a graph, helping to spot patterns in the results. The conclusion would be the same as the one made from the table.

Young person looks upwards, and above her is an animated brain with shapes of inventions around it.

Step 5 - Using scientific knowledge

To make a conclusion better, scientific knowledge should be used to explain the findings. Sometimes using the information from the table or graph is good too. For example, from the sugar cube experiment, the amount of mass lost every 20 secs could be written down .

In the experiment modelling erosion, which was the dependent variable?

Evaluating evidence

Three scientists looking at results of scientific data on a clip-board.

More on Working scientifically

Find out more by working through a topic

Bias in science

  • count 11 of 11

how to write an evaluation in a science report

  • count 1 of 11

how to write an evaluation in a science report

  • count 2 of 11

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Writing a hypothesis and prediction

  • count 3 of 11

how to write an evaluation in a science report

When you choose to publish with PLOS, your research makes an impact. Make your work accessible to all, without restrictions, and accelerate scientific discovery with options like preprints and published peer review that make your work more Open.

  • PLOS Biology
  • PLOS Climate
  • PLOS Complex Systems
  • PLOS Computational Biology
  • PLOS Digital Health
  • PLOS Genetics
  • PLOS Global Public Health
  • PLOS Medicine
  • PLOS Mental Health
  • PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
  • PLOS Pathogens
  • PLOS Sustainability and Transformation
  • PLOS Collections
  • How to Write Discussions and Conclusions

How to Write Discussions and Conclusions

The discussion section contains the results and outcomes of a study. An effective discussion informs readers what can be learned from your experiment and provides context for the results.

What makes an effective discussion?

When you’re ready to write your discussion, you’ve already introduced the purpose of your study and provided an in-depth description of the methodology. The discussion informs readers about the larger implications of your study based on the results. Highlighting these implications while not overstating the findings can be challenging, especially when you’re submitting to a journal that selects articles based on novelty or potential impact. Regardless of what journal you are submitting to, the discussion section always serves the same purpose: concluding what your study results actually mean.

A successful discussion section puts your findings in context. It should include:

  • the results of your research,
  • a discussion of related research, and
  • a comparison between your results and initial hypothesis.

Tip: Not all journals share the same naming conventions.

You can apply the advice in this article to the conclusion, results or discussion sections of your manuscript.

Our Early Career Researcher community tells us that the conclusion is often considered the most difficult aspect of a manuscript to write. To help, this guide provides questions to ask yourself, a basic structure to model your discussion off of and examples from published manuscripts. 

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Questions to ask yourself:

  • Was my hypothesis correct?
  • If my hypothesis is partially correct or entirely different, what can be learned from the results? 
  • How do the conclusions reshape or add onto the existing knowledge in the field? What does previous research say about the topic? 
  • Why are the results important or relevant to your audience? Do they add further evidence to a scientific consensus or disprove prior studies? 
  • How can future research build on these observations? What are the key experiments that must be done? 
  • What is the “take-home” message you want your reader to leave with?

How to structure a discussion

Trying to fit a complete discussion into a single paragraph can add unnecessary stress to the writing process. If possible, you’ll want to give yourself two or three paragraphs to give the reader a comprehensive understanding of your study as a whole. Here’s one way to structure an effective discussion:

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Writing Tips

While the above sections can help you brainstorm and structure your discussion, there are many common mistakes that writers revert to when having difficulties with their paper. Writing a discussion can be a delicate balance between summarizing your results, providing proper context for your research and avoiding introducing new information. Remember that your paper should be both confident and honest about the results! 

What to do

  • Read the journal’s guidelines on the discussion and conclusion sections. If possible, learn about the guidelines before writing the discussion to ensure you’re writing to meet their expectations. 
  • Begin with a clear statement of the principal findings. This will reinforce the main take-away for the reader and set up the rest of the discussion. 
  • Explain why the outcomes of your study are important to the reader. Discuss the implications of your findings realistically based on previous literature, highlighting both the strengths and limitations of the research. 
  • State whether the results prove or disprove your hypothesis. If your hypothesis was disproved, what might be the reasons? 
  • Introduce new or expanded ways to think about the research question. Indicate what next steps can be taken to further pursue any unresolved questions. 
  • If dealing with a contemporary or ongoing problem, such as climate change, discuss possible consequences if the problem is avoided. 
  • Be concise. Adding unnecessary detail can distract from the main findings. 

What not to do

Don’t

  • Rewrite your abstract. Statements with “we investigated” or “we studied” generally do not belong in the discussion. 
  • Include new arguments or evidence not previously discussed. Necessary information and evidence should be introduced in the main body of the paper. 
  • Apologize. Even if your research contains significant limitations, don’t undermine your authority by including statements that doubt your methodology or execution. 
  • Shy away from speaking on limitations or negative results. Including limitations and negative results will give readers a complete understanding of the presented research. Potential limitations include sources of potential bias, threats to internal or external validity, barriers to implementing an intervention and other issues inherent to the study design. 
  • Overstate the importance of your findings. Making grand statements about how a study will fully resolve large questions can lead readers to doubt the success of the research. 

Snippets of Effective Discussions:

Consumer-based actions to reduce plastic pollution in rivers: A multi-criteria decision analysis approach

Identifying reliable indicators of fitness in polar bears

  • How to Write a Great Title
  • How to Write an Abstract
  • How to Write Your Methods
  • How to Report Statistics
  • How to Edit Your Work

The contents of the Peer Review Center are also available as a live, interactive training session, complete with slides, talking points, and activities. …

The contents of the Writing Center are also available as a live, interactive training session, complete with slides, talking points, and activities. …

There’s a lot to consider when deciding where to submit your work. Learn how to choose a journal that will help your study reach its audience, while reflecting your values as a researcher…

How to Write a Lab Report

Lab Reports Describe Your Experiment

  • Chemical Laws
  • Periodic Table
  • Projects & Experiments
  • Scientific Method
  • Biochemistry
  • Physical Chemistry
  • Medical Chemistry
  • Chemistry In Everyday Life
  • Famous Chemists
  • Activities for Kids
  • Abbreviations & Acronyms
  • Weather & Climate
  • Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
  • B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College

Lab reports are an essential part of all laboratory courses and usually a significant part of your grade. If your instructor gives you an outline for how to write a lab report, use that. Some instructors require a lab report to be included in a lab notebook , while others will request a separate report. Here's a format for a lab report you can use if you aren't sure what to write or need an explanation of what to include in the different parts of the report.

A lab report is how you explain what you did in ​your experiment, what you learned, and what the results meant.

Lab Report Essentials

Not all lab reports have title pages, but if your instructor wants one, it would be a single page that states:​

  • The title of the experiment.
  • Your name and the names of any lab partners.
  • Your instructor's name.
  • The date the lab was performed or the date the report was submitted.

The title says what you did. It should be brief (aim for ten words or less) and describe the main point of the experiment or investigation. An example of a title would be: "Effects of Ultraviolet Light on Borax Crystal Growth Rate". If you can, begin your title using a keyword rather than an article like "The" or "A".

Introduction or Purpose

Usually, the introduction is one paragraph that explains the objectives or purpose of the lab. In one sentence, state the hypothesis. Sometimes an introduction may contain background information, briefly summarize how the experiment was performed, state the findings of the experiment, and list the conclusions of the investigation. Even if you don't write a whole introduction, you need to state the purpose of the experiment, or why you did it. This would be where you state your hypothesis .

List everything needed to complete your experiment.

Describe the steps you completed during your investigation. This is your procedure. Be sufficiently detailed that anyone could read this section and duplicate your experiment. Write it as if you were giving direction for someone else to do the lab. It may be helpful to provide a figure to diagram your experimental setup.

Numerical data obtained from your procedure usually presented as a table. Data encompasses what you recorded when you conducted the experiment. It's just the facts, not any interpretation of what they mean.

Describe in words what the data means. Sometimes the Results section is combined with the Discussion.

Discussion or Analysis

The Data section contains numbers; the Analysis section contains any calculations you made based on those numbers. This is where you interpret the data and determine whether or not a hypothesis was accepted. This is also where you would discuss any mistakes you might have made while conducting the investigation. You may wish to describe ways the study might have been improved.

Conclusions

Most of the time the conclusion is a single paragraph that sums up what happened in the experiment, whether your hypothesis was accepted or rejected, and what this means.

Figures and Graphs

Graphs and figures must both be labeled with a descriptive title. Label the axes on a graph, being sure to include units of measurement. The independent variable is on the X-axis, the dependent variable (the one you are measuring) is on the Y-axis. Be sure to refer to figures and graphs in the text of your report: the first figure is Figure 1, the second figure is Figure 2, etc.

If your research was based on someone else's work or if you cited facts that require documentation, then you should list these references.

  • How to Format a Biology Lab Report
  • Science Lab Report Template - Fill in the Blanks
  • How to Write a Science Fair Project Report
  • How to Write an Abstract for a Scientific Paper
  • Six Steps of the Scientific Method
  • How To Design a Science Fair Experiment
  • Understanding Simple vs Controlled Experiments
  • Make a Science Fair Poster or Display
  • How to Organize Your Science Fair Poster
  • What Is an Experiment? Definition and Design
  • Scientific Method Lesson Plan
  • What Are the Elements of a Good Hypothesis?
  • 6 Steps to Writing the Perfect Personal Essay
  • How to Write a Great Book Report
  • The 10 Most Important Lab Safety Rules
  • PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
  • EDIT Edit this Article
  • EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
  • Browse Articles
  • Learn Something New
  • Quizzes Hot
  • This Or That Game New
  • Train Your Brain
  • Explore More
  • Support wikiHow
  • About wikiHow
  • Log in / Sign up
  • Education and Communications
  • Science Writing

How to Write up a Science Experiment

Last Updated: May 19, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Michael Simpson, PhD . Dr. Michael Simpson (Mike) is a Registered Professional Biologist in British Columbia, Canada. He has over 20 years of experience in ecology research and professional practice in Britain and North America, with an emphasis on plants and biological diversity. Mike also specializes in science communication and providing education and technical support for ecology projects. Mike received a BSc with honors in Ecology and an MA in Society, Science, and Nature from The University of Lancaster in England as well as a Ph.D. from the University of Alberta. He has worked in British, North American, and South American ecosystems, and with First Nations communities, non-profits, government, academia, and industry. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 262,816 times.

Any time you have conducted a science experiment, you should write a lab report detailing why the experiment was performed, the results you expected, the process you used, the actual results, and a discussion of what the results mean. Lab reports often follow a very standard format starting with an abstract and introduction, followed by a materials and methods section, the results and discussion, and finally a conclusion. This format will allow the reader to find answers to common questions that are often asked: Why was the experiment performed? What were the expected results? How was the experiment conducted? What happened in the experiment? What do the results mean? This article explains the basic format of a lab report.

Lab Report Template

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Writing an Abstract and Introduction

Step 1 Start with an abstract.

  • The purpose of this short summary is to provide the reader with enough information on the experiment that they can see if they want or need to read the entire report. The abstract helps them determine if your research is relevant to them.
  • Devote a sentence to describing the purpose of the project and its significance. Then, very briefly describe the materials and methods used. Follow up with a 1-2 sentence description of the results of the experiment. You might also provide a list of keywords listing subjects related to your research.

Step 2 Write an introduction.

  • The introduction will outline what the experiment is, why it was done, and why it is important. It must provide the reader with two key pieces of information: what is the question the experiment is supposed to answer and why is answering this question important.

Step 3 Decide what your expected results should be.

  • A research hypothesis should be a brief statement that pares down your problem that you described in your introduction into something that is testable and falsifiable.
  • Scientists must create a hypothesis from which an experiment can reasonably be designed and carried out.
  • A hypothesis is never proved in an experiment, only "verified" or "supported".

Step 4 Formulate your hypothesis...

  • For example, you might start with "Fertilizer affects how tall a plant will grow". You could expand this idea to a clear hypothesis: "Plants grow faster and taller when they are given fertilizer". To make it a testable hypothesis, you could add experimental details: "Plants which are given a solution with 1ml of fertilizer grow faster than plants without fertilizer because they are given more nutrients."

Explaining Your Research Procedure

Step 1 Designate a section in your report for explaining your research design.

  • This section is extremely crucial documentation of your methods of analysis.

Step 2 Describe all the materials needed to conduct the experiment.

  • For example, if you were testing how fertilizer affects plant growth, you would want to state what brand of fertilizer you used, what species of plant you used and what brand of seed.
  • Make sure you include the quantity of all objects used in the experiment.

Step 3 Describe the exact procedure you used.

  • Remember all experiments involve controls and variables. Describe these here.
  • If you used a published laboratory method, be sure to provide a reference for the original method.

Reporting Results

Step 1 Designate a section of your report for your results.

  • For example, if you are testing the effect of fertilizer on plant growth you would want a graph showing the average growth of plants given fertilizer vs. those without.
  • You would also want to describe the result. For example "Plants which were given a concentration of 1ml of fertilizer grew an average of 4 cm taller than those that were not given fertilizer."
  • As you go along, narrate your results. Tell the reader why a result is significant to the experiment or problem. This will allow the reader to follow your thinking process.
  • Compare your results to your original hypothesis. State whether or not your hypothesis was supported or not by your experiment.
  • Quantitative data is anything expressed in terms of numerical forms such as percentages or statistics. Qualitative data is derived from broad questions and is expressed in the form of word responses from study participants.

Step 2 Include a discussion section.

  • In this section, the author can address other questions such as: "why did we get an unexpected result?" or "what would happen if one aspect of the procedure was altered?".
  • If your results did not verify your hypothesis, explain your reasoning why.

Step 3 Write a conclusion.

  • Be sure to link back to the introduction and whether or not the experiment addressed the goals of your analysis.

Step 4 Make sure you have citations.

  • You can use software such as EndNote to help you cite and build a properly referenced bibliography.

Expert Q&A

Michael Simpson, PhD

You Might Also Like

Create a Science Fair Project

  • ↑ Michael Simpson, PhD. Registered Professional Biologist. Expert Interview. 8 September 2021.
  • ↑ https://www.matrix.edu.au/how-to-write-a-scientific-report/
  • ↑ https://explorable.com/research-hypothesis
  • ↑ https://www.monash.edu/learnhq/write-like-a-pro/annotated-assessment-samples/science/science-lab-report

About This Article

Michael Simpson, PhD

When you’re writing up a science experiment for a class, break it into sections for your introduction, procedure, findings, and conclusion. In the intro, explain the purpose of your experiment and what you predicted would happen, then give a brief overview of what you did. In the procedure section, describe all of the materials you used and give a step-by-step account of your method. In the findings section, give the results from your experiment, including any graphs or diagrams you made. Then, explain if your expectations were met and what further research you can do. Finish with a brief conclusion that summarizes your experiment and its results. For more tips from our Science co-author, including how to write an abstract for your science paper, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

  • Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

Vamikha Shetty

Vamikha Shetty

Sep 29, 2020

Did this article help you?

Vamikha Shetty

Eleanor Enedby

Nov 4, 2021

Ajayi D.

Oct 23, 2019

Kyi Kyaw Sein

Kyi Kyaw Sein

Feb 19, 2022

Jhon Lukas

Nov 24, 2019

Am I a Narcissist or an Empath Quiz

Featured Articles

Dye Your Hair at Home

Trending Articles

How to Take the Perfect Thirst Trap

Watch Articles

Wrap a Round Gift

  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Info
  • Not Selling Info

wikiHow Tech Help Pro:

Develop the tech skills you need for work and life

Library homepage

  • school Campus Bookshelves
  • menu_book Bookshelves
  • perm_media Learning Objects
  • login Login
  • how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
  • hub Instructor Commons
  • Download Page (PDF)
  • Download Full Book (PDF)
  • Periodic Table
  • Physics Constants
  • Scientific Calculator
  • Reference & Cite
  • Tools expand_more
  • Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

Physics LibreTexts

27.5: Guide for writing a lab report

  • Last updated
  • Save as PDF
  • Page ID 19582

Write a few short sentences briefly summarizing what you did, how you did it, what you found and whether anything went wrong in your experiment.

Describe relevant theories that relate to your experiment here, and the steps to carry out your procedure.

Consider the following questions:

  • What are the relevant theories/principles that you used?
  • What equations did you use? Show how you modeled your experiment.
  • What materials, equipment and/or tools were necessary in making your measurements?
  • Where was this experiment conducted?
  • How did you make your measurements? How many times did you make them?
  • How did you record your measurements?
  • How did you determine and minimize the uncertainties in your measurements? Why did you choose to measure a specific quantity in a certain way?

It can be useful to predict the value (and uncertainty) that you expect to measure before conducting the measurement. You should report on this initial prediction in order to help you better understand the data from your experiment.

  • Predict your measured values and uncertainties. How precise do you expect your measurements to be?
  • What assumptions did you have to make to predict your results?
  • Have these predictions influenced how you should approach your procedure? Make relevant adjustments to the procedure based on your predictions.

Data and Analysis

Present your data. Include relevant tables/graphs. Describe in detail how you analysed the data, including how you propagated uncertainties. If the data do not agree with your model prediction (or the prediction from your proposal), examine whether you can improve your model.

  • How did you obtain the “final” measurement/value from your collected data?
  • How did you propagate uncertainties? Why did you do it that way?
  • What is the relative uncertainty on your value(s)?

Discussion and Conclusion

Summarize your findings, and address whether or not your model described the data. Discuss possible reasons why your measured value is not consisted with your model expectation (is it the model? is it the data?).

  • Were there any systematic errors that you didn’t consider?
  • Did you learn anything that you didn’t previously know? (eg. about the subject of your experiment, about the scientific method in general)
  • If you could redo this experiment, what would you change (if anything)?

Guide for reviewing a lab report

Summarize your overall evaluation of the report in 2-3 sentences. Focus on the experiment’s method and its result. For example, “The authors dropped balls from different heights to determine the value of g”. You don’t need to go into the specific details, just give a high level summary of the report. If the report is unclear, specify this.

  • Is the the procedure well thought-out, clearly and concisely described?
  • Do you have sufficient information that you could repeat this experiment?
  • Does the report clearly describe how different quantities were measured and how the uncertainties were determined?
  • Does the report motivate why the specific procedure was chosen? (e.g. to minimize uncertainties).
  • Does the experiment clearly state how uncertainties were propagated and how the data were analyzed?
  • Do you believe their result to be scientifically valid?

Overall Rating of the Experiment

Give the report an overall score, based on the criteria described above. Use one of the following to rate the proposal and include a sentence to justify your choice.

  • Satisfactory

tools4dev Practical tools for international development

how to write an evaluation in a science report

How to Write a Monitoring and Evaluation Report

Good impact stories require excellent reporting. Having the right mix of quantitative evidence, well visualized and applied; positioning your case-studies, and providing the relevant theoretical background are all part of telling a good impact story.

Start your report when you are designing the M&E framework. As implementation progresses, core things about the way teams understand their work changes too, and capturing these changes is key, particularly in contexts of complex or developmental evaluation. Being clear about precisely how the problem statement was defined, and having a clear and finalized logical framework for how the work initially set about to address this problem as close as possible to the start of the implementation is key for good M&E.

There are a few important aspects to think about as you compile your report:

Present the M&E system clearly at the start of the report. Include a diagram of your theoretical framework, as well as your more specific logical framework. The first should be stated more in the language and results and change, and should include concepts which are linked to and justified by empirical studies which form the basis of your programme rationale. You may draw from international studies, or your own past evaluations, but providing this clear background, not just for the change you hope to see, but why the programme was designed in this way is key for framing the project intention. The second; the Logical Framework should be depicted in the language of indicators, and the direction and quantity of the change you are hoping to measure.

Be sure to outline and describe the context: the beneficiary groups, and the circumstances of their lives. This is a section of the report where the problem statement and the programme rationale align, and it is also the point where you define the very heart of the change, whether you’re providing skills, information to change to mindsets, or whether you’re distributing resources. This is where you define any ongoing measures such as assessments and how this is relevant from the perspective of the beneficiaries, stated in the language of change.

Include a very clear description of the activities of the project. Although there is not space in an impact report to explore the full workings of a project, stating programme activities as the catalyst for change is extremely important. What activities are being undertaken, and why these are expected to create change is key.

Once you have clearly stated the intention of the project, as well as the intention and design of the system for measuring the project’s work, then it is a good idea to clearly state and describe the methods used in the M&E function, and to justify the chosen method. If you are taking a rigorous quantitative approach, for example in public health projects where change can be clearly measured; or if you are working in a complex social space, and have chosen to use a developmental or other realistic evaluation approach; the rest of the report will depend on the method you have chosen. Some methods, such as Social Return on Investment impact analyses include clear guides on how to report; while more qualitative, research oriented studies might be far less quantitatively analytical, but explanatory.

Whichever course your particular work might take, honesty and clarity are key. It is far more useful to reveal a missed milestone, or a goal not achieved (and why) than not to write about it. With the scope and extent of the problems which the communities of the world aim to remedy, there are only more lessons to learn. Including a section on ‘what didn’t work’ shows not only that the M&E has been effective, but also indicates that the organization is reflective and critical. For any project aiming to make serious change, this is the first step to ongoing improvement.

The bulk of the report should focus on the presentation of findings: the achievement of outputs and outcomes, and the project impact. The form this takes will depend largely on the type of work you are doing, and the adopted M&E methodology.

In summary, your report may take the following format:

Introduction

A strong introduction is key. Be sure to state the overall length of time of the project, and the reach, or total beneficiary information.

Background and Context

Include a problem statement as well as the theoretical background, or literature review.

Programme Overview

In this section, describe the programme – the overall vision (or results), the beneficiaries and the programme activities designed to create the change

Programme M&E

In this section, you will bring together the contextual, and the programme design into a visual representation of the overall theoretical framework. Then, include the log frame, and a section on methodology.

Analysis of Outcomes & Impacts

In this section, you may explore the outputs and outcomes against the log frame as you have presented it. This may include graphical visualization of quantitative indicators, or case studies for more observation based, or qualitative change. Include a section on the overall impact, returning to and referencing the programme information outlined in the report, but more importantly defining convergence, challenges and lessons learnt.

Finally, once you have completed your report, take some time on an executive summary. Not only will having this ensure that high-level stakeholders can get the salient information in a short amount of time, but this will also provide the space to be more exploratory in the main body of reporting. If you can summarize your outcomes and impact findings into an infographic, this can also be useful for your communications and fundraising strategies. Be prepared that a good impact report can take months, and to truly capture the complexity of change, M&E teams should take note throughout programme implementation. Unlike an independent, external evaluation, and Impact Report can really be an opportunity to explore and explain the full length and breadth of change as you conduct your work. Whether entirely quantitative, and working within a relatively closed system, or as a record of the iterative growth and learning of your organization as it strives to have an impact, an Impact Report is your biography, your testament.

About Angela Biden

' src=

Related Articles

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Master en gestion des achats et de la chaîne d’approvisionnement en santé publique

22 August 2023

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Apply now: UN Post Graduate Diploma in Global Health Procurement and Supply Chain Management

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Top 10 Websites to find Monitoring and Evaluation Jobs

12 August 2023

The Road Ahead

Our analysis of the major opportunities and challenges facing the voluntary sector in 2024. Learn more

  • Writing an evaluation report

Use this page to learn about the process of writing an evaluation report.

Writing an evaluation report helps you share key findings and recommendations with those in your organisation and the people and communities you work with. This is the next step in the evaluation cycle after our guidance on analysing and reporting on your evaluation .

A report can be used to:

  • suggest changes to how you work
  • communicate your value to funders
  • share good practice with other organisations
  • share learning with the people and communities you work with.

Once you’ve completed these parts of your project, you’ll be able to write your evaluation report:

  • You have data that you've collected and analysed.
  • You’ve got the software to help you design your report.
  • You have an understanding of the people who'll be reading your report.
  • There are helpful colleagues available to read your drafts.

Choose the right software for your report

You have several options for software. Here are some suggestions below to get you started:

The Microsoft suite

  • Word has a range of icons, images and smart art you can use - it is probably the most popular choice.
  • Slide documents (using PowerPoint) can be helpful for writing briefer reports. You can also create data visualisation within PowerPoint and import it to Microsoft Word if preferred.
  • You can create dashboards in Excel and/or import data visualisation graphs to other Microsoft applications.

Other applications

  • SurveyMonkey has a dashboard function which can be used for reporting.
  • Piktochart, Tablea and Canva are all design software. They have evaluation and impact report templates available.
  • If you're producing content for webpages, Google Charts and Datawrapper may prove helpful.

Consider your audience

Think about the people you're reporting to so you can tell them what they need to know. You should consider these points:

  • What kind of information they need. For example, whether they need to know more about the difference you’ve made or the way in which you’ve delivered your work.
  • How they'd like the information presented. For example, as a traditional evaluation report and/or data visualisation, webpages, or PowerPoint and when.
  • Why they need the information and what you want them to do as a result.
  • Whether there are any accessibility needs that you need to consider. For example, does the report need to work on a screen reader?

Plan your report

Having a clear structure makes your report easier to read. Before you write, plan your headings and subheadings. Most evaluation reports will include the following sections.

  • Executive summary – a summary of your key findings and recommendations.
  • Introduction – a brief description of what you're evaluating, the purpose of your evaluation and the methods you've used (for example, surveys and interviews).
  • Findings and discussion – information on what you delivered, how you delivered it and what outcomes came out of it.
  • Recommendations – actions that need to be taken to respond to the evaluation findings.

What to include in your report

Reports will vary depending on the nature of your work, but you'll probably need to include findings on the following:

  • Outcomes – What outcomes have been achieved, for whom and under what circumstances. You should also report on intended outcomes.
  • Activities and outputs – What has been delivered, when and to who. You should also report on how satisfied the people and communities you work with were.
  • Processes – Information about how you delivered your outputs. You may need this information to explain why something worked particularly well, or why it didn’t work.

Describe and interpret your data

In your report, you should describe your data and interpret it – analysing your data before you start writing will help with this.

Describing means presenting what the data tells you. You might describe, for example, what outcomes were achieved, by whom and in what circumstances.

Interpretation moves beyond description to say what the data means – make sure you word your report clearly so the reader can tell when you're describing data and when you're interpreting it.

To help you interpret data, you could do the following.

  • Make connections by looking for trends, patterns and links . For example, if two groups had very different outcomes, what factors might have led to this?
  • Put data in a meaningful context . Numbers don’t speak for themselves. Is 70% good or bad? How do you know?

When you interpret your data, you could discuss the following.

  • Why outcomes were achieved, or not achieved . Understanding this may help you make decisions about future service planning. Many funders will also want to know about this.
  • What worked and what didn’t . Knowing about this will put you in a good position to improve your work. It may also be useful to share with partners or funders to improve practice in the sector.
  • Answers to your evaluation questions . When you planned your evaluation , you may have had two or three key questions you wanted it to answer. For example, you may have wanted to know whether your service works equally well for all groups.

Choose how to present your data

A common mistake is to try to present all your data, rather than focusing on what’s most important. It helps to narrow down to what people reading your report need to know.

It’s also important to think about how you'll present your information. You could consider the following points.

Which key numbers do your audience need to know?

  • Decide whether to report using percentages, averages or other statistics.
  • Think about whether you need to compare numerical data for different groups. You may want to look at whether men were more likely to experience outcomes than women, for instance.
  • Read our guide on analysing quantitative data .

Which quotations will help you illustrate your themes?

  • Choose quotations that bring your outcomes to life. Don’t choose too many or they'll distract the reader from the point you want to make.
  • Have a mixture of typical responses and those that don’t fit easily into your categories.
  • Read our guide on analysing qualitative data .

What visual aids will you use?

  • Diagrams, graphs or charts should be used to highlight the most important information, rather than information which is less relevant.
  • It’s very easy for diagrams to mislead your audience. Here are some examples of misleading charts . If you think a diagram might be misleading, it’s better to leave it out.

As far as possible, present data that has been analysed or summarised rather than raw data, to make it as easy as possible for the reader to follow.

Check anonymity and consent

When you collected your data, respondents will have said whether they wanted to remain anonymous (most do) and whether you should check with them before using a quote or case study in your report. Make sure you do any checking with plenty of time before you need to complete the report.

Depending on the size of your sample and how easy it is to identify individuals, you may have to do more than just change the name to make someone anonymous.

You might have to change their age or other identifying details, or remove references to anything that would allow people to identify them as an individual.

Write accurately and clearly

It’s important to write accurately and clearly so that your report can be easily understood and is not misleading.

Be transparent

Being transparent means being open about what you can and can’t say, and clear about how you reached your conclusions and about the limitations of your data. 

Just as it's important to minimise bias when collecting or analysing data, it's equally important to minimise bias when reporting.

  • Avoid overclaiming your role in making a difference . Your work may not be solely responsible for the outcomes that have occurred for individuals or organisations you've worked with. Remember to report on evidence of any other contributing factors. For example, support received from other organisations or other sources.
  • Choose case studies carefully . Evaluation case studies are not the same as marketing case studies. They should illustrate your learning points, not just the very best of what you do. You won't have a representative group of case studies, but as far as possible, choose case studies – and quotations – that reflect the full range of responses you had.
  • Explore alternative interpretations or causal links . Sometimes, data is ambiguous and there could be more than one interpretation. All of us are prone to 'confirmation bias' – paying more attention to data that fits our existing beliefs. It's important to look for and talk about reasonable alternative interpretations or explanations of your data.
  • Be clear about the limitations of your data . If there was a group you weren't able to hear from, or your sample over- or under-represents a particular group, say so.
  • Be open about your sample size . In general, the smaller your sample, the less able you're to make generalisations about everyone in your target group.
  • Report negative findings . If the data shows something isn't working or an outcome hasn't been achieved, don’t ignore it. Reporting negative findings will help your audience to use the evaluation to learn and improve.

Use precise language

Evaluation reports need to be as clear and precise as possible in their wording. Be especially careful about using the word 'proof' or 'prove'.

To prove something requires 100% certainty, which you are very unlikely to have. 'Indicates', 'demonstrates', 'shows', 'suggests' or 'is evidence for' are useful alternative phrases.

Make your report easy to read

Subheadings will make your report clear for your readers. Looking back at your evaluation framework or theory of change can help you think of ideas for subheadings.

It often makes sense to have a subheading for each intended outcome.

Sometimes you'll have collected data about the same outcome from a range of different sources such as questionnaires, interviews, observation or secondary data.

When you analysed your data, you probably looked at each source separately.

In your report, it usually makes sense to write about all the data relating to each outcome together (rather than having separate sections on data from different sources).

Keep your language simple and straightforward. Remember to explain any terminology that might be unfamiliar to your audience.

Develop your recommendations

Your recommendations are likely to be one of the most important parts of your report. Good recommendations will make your evaluation findings more likely to be used.

Recommendations are more likely to be put in place if the following factors are considered.

  • Supported by evidence – Be clear about how the recommendations build on the key findings. It can help to structure the recommendations in the same order as the main findings to help readers understand the evidence base for each.
  • Specific – Say exactly what action needs to be taken and when within the control of the evaluation.
  • Users  – Make sure individuals or groups have the authority and capability to take forward what you’re suggesting.
  • Realistic and achievable  – Recommendations should be feasible. You can categorise them by which ones are easy to implement and which are less so. More ‘difficult’ recommendations might need budget or staff changes. These should still be stated, as well as the impact of it.
  • Prioritised  – It’s helpful to show some priorities for action. You could, for example, split your recommendations into ‘essential’ versus ‘optional’ or ‘for consideration’ versus ‘for action’. Make sure the number of recommendations you include is achievable.

Involve people in the reporting process

You can involve other internal staff and the poeple and communities you work with at several points. For example, you could share your report drafts and ask them to help you refine the conclusions.

This 'co-production' of findings can be valuable and provide interpretations you may not have thought about.

You can also co-produce recommendations by sharing the findings with those you work with and asking them to suggest and prioritise recommendations.

If you do this, take care to guide people to base their recommendations on the evidence, and not their own interests or preoccupations.

Finishing the report

Allow time for a couple of report drafts and make sure there are people available to review the report for you. It's good to have someone look at it with ‘fresh eyes’.

If the report is being widely shared, you could have someone from outside your sector review the draft to make sure it's clear for external audiences.

To complete the report, leave time for proofreading and editing, checking references, and design and print if needed.

You might include your data collection tools in appendices – this could help other organisations working in your field to improve their evaluation.

Once you’ve completed your report, read our guidance on using your findings to improve your work .

Waving man

Need information and guidance? We're here to help.

Contact our small charity helpdesk

Share this page

Tell a colleague

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter

Last reviewed: 18 September 2023

Analysis and reporting

  • Analysing quantitative data for evaluation
  • Analysing qualitative data for evaluation

This page was last reviewed for accuracy on 18 September 2023

Reporting and data visualisation

Take a look at this example of reporting and data visualisation

Our evaluation training

See what training courses we have to support you in your evaluation work

Impact round-up: December 2023

The latest resources, events and training to help your organisation with its impact and evaluation

  • Impact and evaluation

Impact round-up: Summer 2023

Senior consultant, Sandy Chidley, runs through some recent work on ethical evaluation and shares useful evaluation events and training opportunities

Impact round-up: Spring 2023

Evaluation consultant Lucy Lernelius takes a deep dive into measuring the impact of volunteering

Key findings from Time Well Spent 2023

New data reveals how much volunteering has transformed over recent years

  • Involving volunteers

Insights and reflections

Impact round-up: Winter 2023

Evaluation consultant Carol Jennions looks at wellbeing evaluation and shares useful resources alongside some exciting new training opportunities

Sign up for emails

Get regular updates on NCVO's help, support and services

Advertisement

Supported by

Poll Ranks Biden as 14th-Best President, With Trump Last

President Biden may owe his place in the top third to his predecessor: Mr. Biden’s signature accomplishment, according to the historians, was evicting Donald J. Trump from the Oval Office.

  • Share full article

President Biden standing at the top of the steps leading to Air Force One.

By Peter Baker

Peter Baker has covered the past five presidents, ranked seventh, 12th, 14th, 32nd and 45th in the survey.

President Biden has not had a lot of fun perusing polls lately. He has a lower approval rating than every president going back to Dwight D. Eisenhower at this stage of their tenures, and he trails former President Donald J. Trump in a fall rematch. But Mr. Biden can take solace from one survey in which he is way out in front of Mr. Trump.

A new poll of historians coming out on Presidents’ Day weekend ranks Mr. Biden as the 14th-best president in American history, just ahead of Woodrow Wilson, Ronald Reagan and Ulysses S. Grant. While that may not get Mr. Biden a spot on Mount Rushmore, it certainly puts him well ahead of Mr. Trump, who places dead last as the worst president ever.

Indeed, Mr. Biden may owe his place in the top third in part to Mr. Trump. Although he has claims to a historical legacy by managing the end of the Covid pandemic; rebuilding the nation’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure; and leading an international coalition against Russian aggression, Mr. Biden’s signature accomplishment, according to the historians, was evicting Mr. Trump from the Oval Office.

“Biden’s most important achievements may be that he rescued the presidency from Trump, resumed a more traditional style of presidential leadership and is gearing up to keep the office out of his predecessor’s hands this fall,” wrote Justin Vaughn and Brandon Rottinghaus, the college professors who conducted the survey and announced the results in The Los Angeles Times .

Mr. Trump might not care much what a bunch of academics think, but for what it’s worth he fares badly even among the self-identified Republican historians. Finishing 45th overall, Mr. Trump trails even the mid-19th-century failures who blundered the country into a civil war or botched its aftermath like James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce and Andrew Johnson.

Judging modern-day presidents, of course, is a hazardous exercise, one shaped by the politics of the moment and not necessarily reflective of how history will look a century from now. Even long-ago presidents can move up or down such polls depending on the changing cultural mores of the times the surveys are conducted.

For instance, Barack Obama, finishing at No. 7 this year, is up nine places since 2015, as is Grant, now ranked 17th. On the other hand, Andrew Jackson has fallen 12 places to 21st while Wilson (15th) and Reagan (16th) have each fallen five places.

At least some of that may owe to the increasing contemporary focus on racial justice. Mr. Obama, of course, was the nation’s first Black president, and Grant’s war against the Ku Klux Klan has come to balance out the corruption of his administration. But more attention today has focused on Jackson’s brutal campaigns against Native Americans and his “Trail of Tears” forced removal of Indigenous communities, and Wilson’s racist views and resegregation of parts of the federal government.

As usual, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson top the list, and historians generally share similar views of many presidents regardless of their own personal ideology or partisan affiliation. But some modern presidents generate more splits among the historians along party lines.

Among Republican scholars, for instance, Reagan finishes fifth, George H.W. Bush 11th, Mr. Obama 15th and Mr. Biden 30th, while among Democratic historians, Reagan is 18th, Mr. Bush 19th, Mr. Obama sixth and Mr. Biden 13th. Other than Grant and Mr. Biden, the biggest disparity is over George W. Bush, who is ranked 19th among Republicans and 33rd among Democrats.

Intriguingly, one modern president who generates little partisan difference is Bill Clinton. In fact, Republicans rank him slightly higher, at 10th, than Democrats do, at 12th, perhaps reflecting some #MeToo era rethinking and liberal unease over his centrist politics.

The survey, conducted by Mr. Vaughn, an associate professor of political science at Coastal Carolina University, and Mr. Rottinghaus, a professor of political science at the University of Houston, was based on 154 responses from scholars across the country.

Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The Times. He has covered the last five presidents and sometimes writes analytical pieces that place presidents and their administrations in a larger context and historical framework. More about Peter Baker

Our Coverage of the 2024 Presidential Election

News and Analysis

After days of meetings with disaffected Democrats in Michigan , Representative Ro Khanna of California said that President Biden cannot win the state without changes to his Middle East policy .

Biden is planning to make a rare visit to the southern border  on the same day as former President Donald Trump. The plans underscore the urgency now propelling the president and his team on immigration.

Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, said that she would step down on March 8 , as Trump seeks to install a new handpicked leader for the national party ahead of the general election this fall.

Pressure Builds in the West Wing: The presidency has always been a pressure cooker, but some in the Biden administration see wars, age, family stress and another race against Trump combining with unusual force .

Trump’s March to the Nomination: After his overwhelming victory in South Carolina, Trump shows no sign of being shaken from his controlling position in the Republican Party  — not in 2024, and not in the foreseeable future.

Gretchen Whitmer’s Electoral Test: The Michigan governor, who has taken a prominent role in President Biden’s re-election campaign, is popular in her state. But will that be enough for her to deliver Michigan for Biden?

The Rise of ‘Ambivalent Voters’: The 2024 presidential election could be decided by the Americans who vacillate between voting and not voting. What do we know about them?

People sitting around a desk while woman points at post-its

QANTAS pays women 37% less, Telstra and BHP 20%. Fifty years after equal pay laws, we still have a long way to go

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Lead Economist, Monash University

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Associate Professor in Economics, University of Canberra

Disclosure statement

Angela Jackson undertakes research consulting projects for state governments and non-for profits focused on achieving gender equity in Australia including closing the gender pay gap. Angela is currently a member of the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee which will make recommendations to the Australian Government on measures to improve economic inclusion, including gender equity, ahead of the Commonwealth Budget.

Leonora Risse has undertaken research for WGEA and made a submission to the review of the Workplace Gender Equality Act. She serves as an Expert Panel Member on gender pay equity for the Fair Work Commission. She receives research funding from the Trawalla Foundation and the Women's Leadership Institute Australia. She is a member of the Economic Society of Australia and the Women in Economics Network.

Monash University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU.

University of Canberra provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

View all partners

Men continue to outstrip women in the salary stakes, with men’s median annual salary $11,542 greater than women’s, according to newly released data for Australian private companies. It’s a gap of 14.5%, down from last year’s 15.4% .

Men’s median annual base salary in 2022-23 of $79,613 compares to $68,071 for women.

When bonuses and overtime are added - common for high-paying jobs mostly held by men - the gap in total remuneration widens to $18,461, equivalent to 19% and hardly budging from the previous year’s 19.8% ).

This is the first time that the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, which annually reports gender pay gaps by industry, has released the names of actual companies and the differences in what they pay male and female employees.

In this year’s snapshot released on Tuesday, the difference is largest in male-dominated industries (including mining, construction and utilities), with a gender gap in base salaries of 17.5%.

The WGEA data is based on the median of workers’ annual salaries in all large private companies in Australia. The agency includes all workers and converts the numbers into full-time equivalent earnings.

The gap, highlighted in these figures, is the difference between what men and women in each company earn overall, as opposed to the differences between what they are paid for doing the same job.

While the latest ABS figures for average weekly earnings released last week show women’s wages are improving, they are still lagging behind men.

Which industries and companies?

Companies have been required to report their gender pay gap to the WGEA for the past decade, but until now, these statistics relating to individual businesses have not been made public.

New laws mandating the publication of numbers mean we can now dive deeper into company spreadsheets and find out the size of the gender pay gap for every private organisation in Australia.

This data reveals that we can’t typify companies by industry. There are bad performing companies - as well as good performers - across all industries.

Among Australia’s biggest employers, the retailers had relatively low gaps in total remuneration, with Woolworths reporting 5.7%, Coles 5.6%, and Wesfarmers 3.5%.

The mining companies had much bigger gaps, with BHP Group reporting 20.3%, and Rio Tinto 13.5%.

Qantas reported 37% and Telstra Group 20.2%.

This new transparency is part of reforms passed last year to the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, designed to spur companies to take more action on gender equity.

Of the almost 5,000 companies included in the WGEA report, almost 1,000 have a gender pay gap in median base earnings exceeding 20%.

About 350 of these have a gap of over 30% and for about 100, the gap is greater than 40%.

At the other end of the scale, there are about 1,000 companies where the pay gap favours women. These companies deal mainly in health, education and disability services where the high concentration of women means that senior roles are likely to be held by women.

Who does this data empower?

Pay gap transparency places public pressure on employers to do something about their gender pay inequities.

It equips employees with more information to take into their salary negotiations. This tackles the problem of “asymmetric information” where employers know where each worker sits on the pay scale, but employees don’t.

Read more: Now you're able to look up individual companies' gender pay gaps

Transparency gives customers and investors more information about whether a company is an equitable employer. They can use this new knowledge to make decisions about which companies to do business with.

This data empowers the whole Australian community. Any member of the public can go to the WGEA data explorer and search for any large private sector company to see the magnitude of their gender pay gap.

Supermarkets, banks, telecommunication companies, retailers, airlines, builders and energy providers are all on the list.

But new knowledge needs to be followed by action

While evidence on the benefits of transparency for closing the gender pay gap is promising, it’s not a silver bullet.

Firstly, while this public outing aims to spark stronger pressure on companies to take action, some companies will be more driven by public perceptions than others.

Evidence of how widespread these gender pay gaps are could even normalise them, leading companies to reason they are not that out of step with others in their sector.

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Secondly, there are risks in expecting individual women to use this new information try to negotiate more strongly for a pay rise.

Women still face the risk of backlash for showing assertiveness in bargaining. Being armed with extra data does not necessarily shield against these other gender biases.

Thirdly, even if women can bargain successfully, studies suggest pay transparency mostly empowers senior women. This was the outcome in UK universities where transparency led to more senior women securing a pay rise or switching to another higher-paying employer. Junior women with weaker bargaining power could not leverage this data in the same way.

Research shows that pay transparency can even worsen morale , productivity and perceptions of fairness if not also matched by clear explanations from employers on what actions they are taking to rectify inequities.

Employers and governments now have to act

With their gender pay gaps now in full view, the onus is on employers to adopt more equitable hiring, promotion and pay-setting practices.

This can even bring cost savings.

After Denmark mandated pay transparency, the gender pay gap narrowed . Not because women’s wage growth accelerated, but because men’s faster wage growth slowed down. It means pay transparency can moderate employers’ wage bill.

Read more: 'Benevolent sexism' in startups widens the gender gap by advantaging men over women

While greater transparency of information is empowering, it alone will not be enough. It needs to be accompanied by actions.

The fact Australia’s gender pay gap has endured, even over 50 years since equal pay was enshrined in law , reflects a combination of society-wide factors, family dynamics, organisational culture and practices, and policy settings.

Actions also need to include evidence-informed policy, such as increasing access to affordable child care and expanding paid parental leave, to close the gender pay gap for good.

  • Workplace Gender Equality Agency
  • Pay transparency
  • Workplace Gender Equality Act
  • Pay disparity

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Lecturer / Senior Lecturer - Business Law & Taxation

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Lecturer - Human Geography 

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Learning Designer (Multiple Roles Available)

how to write an evaluation in a science report

General Manager | La Trobe University, Sydney Campus

how to write an evaluation in a science report

Industrial Officer (Senior)

IMAGES

  1. FREE 7+ Sample Project Evaluation Templates in PDF

    how to write an evaluation in a science report

  2. FREE 8+ Evaluation Report Templates in Google Docs

    how to write an evaluation in a science report

  3. how to write a method in science report

    how to write an evaluation in a science report

  4. SCIENCE LAB REPORT EXAMPLE in Word and Pdf formats

    how to write an evaluation in a science report

  5. FREE 14+ Sample Evaluation Reports in Google Docs

    how to write an evaluation in a science report

  6. 9 Sample Project Evaluation Templates to Download

    how to write an evaluation in a science report

VIDEO

  1. Report Writing

  2. Research

  3. Research report

  4. REPORT WRITING|| HOW TO WRITE REPORT|| REPORT WRITING BY SK JAKHAR

  5. SCIENCE REPORT| GROUP 3

  6. Educational Research Quantitative (Curriculum Focus):MED513

COMMENTS

  1. How to Write Evaluation Reports: Purpose, Structure, Content

    How to Write Evaluation Reports: Purpose, Structure, Content, Challenges, Tips, and Examples This article explores how to write effective evaluation reports, covering their purpose, structure, content, and common challenges.

  2. PDF UNIT 1 Writing evaluative reports

    6 Evaluation of Project A Strengths The strengths of the investigation were that: The wording of the questionnaires was effective and differentiated non-emotive language. I analysed the data accurately and the results were reliable. B Weaknesses The weaknesses of the investigation were that:

  3. How to Write a Scientific Report

    Got to document an experiment but don't know how? In this post, we'll guide you step-by-step through how to write a scientific report and provide you with an example.

  4. Example 6

    Labels for degrees of success are descriptive ("Expert" "Proficient", etc.); by avoiding the use of letters representing grades or numbers representing points, there is no implied contract that qualities of the paper will "add up" to a specified score or grade or that all dimensions are of equal grading value.

  5. PDF Planning and writing a critical review

    An evaluation is an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a text. This should relate to specific criteria, in the case of a research article.

  6. How To Write A Lab Report

    Abstract: summarizes your research aims, methods, results, and conclusions Introduction: establishes the context needed to understand the topic Method: describes the materials and procedures used in the experiment Results: reports all descriptive and inferential statistical analyses

  7. 1.3: Lab Report Evaluation

    Use lab-specific "treatment of data", as well as the criteria above, as a guide in crafting your report. Each section of the lab report will be graded as follows: You will receive all points for a given section if it is B-quality (ie ~84%) or better. If it is less than B-quality, you will receive zero points for that section.

  8. Scientific Reports

    You did an experiment or study for your science class, and now you have to write it up for your teacher to review. You feel that you understood the background sufficiently, designed and completed the study effectively, obtained useful data, and can use those data to draw conclusions about a scientific process or principle.

  9. How to Write a Results Section

    Here are a few best practices: Your results should always be written in the past tense. While the length of this section depends on how much data you collected and analyzed, it should be written as concisely as possible. Only include results that are directly relevant to answering your research questions.

  10. PDF The Complete Guide to Writing a Report for a Scientific ...

    In the experiment section of the report, there is one crucial thing that several students fail to understand. A report is different from a manual for the experiment. While the manual is the complete how-to guide to perform the experiment, the report mainly emphasizes on analyzing results and deducing conclusions.

  11. Scientific Writing Made Easy: A Step‐by‐Step Guide to Undergraduate

    This guide was inspired by Joshua Schimel's Writing Science: How to Write Papers that Get Cited and Proposals that Get Funded —an excellent book about scientific writing for graduate students and professional scientists—but designed to address undergraduate students.

  12. How should I write the evaluation for a scientific review paper?

    Answer: Your question isn't entirely clear. You may have meant any of the following: How to write a review of a published scientific review article that you have read How to write a scientific review paper yourself (which cumulates multiple scientific papers) How to do a peer review Writing a review of a published paper

  13. Science: Lab report

    You can apply the common report writing techniques outlined below, after always checking the specific details of your assignment. Top tips for science lab reports Lab report structure Title Abstract Introduction Method Results Discussion Conclusion References Appendices Your feedback matters We want to hear from you!

  14. How To Write Evaluation Reports

    Structure your ideas using subheadings. For instance, use a subheading for each intended outcome you are evaluating and bring together the data collected from different sources. Choose how to present the interpreted data focusing on what is most important. Use key numbers, quotations and visual aids to illustrate your findings.

  15. Conclude and evaluate

    Quiz - Conclude and evaluate Key points A conclusion sums up what has been found out during an investigation. A conclusion should be clearly structured and explained using scientific knowledge....

  16. How to Write Discussions and Conclusions

    Begin with a clear statement of the principal findings. This will reinforce the main take-away for the reader and set up the rest of the discussion. Explain why the outcomes of your study are important to the reader. Discuss the implications of your findings realistically based on previous literature, highlighting both the strengths and ...

  17. How to Write a Lab Report

    Title Page. Not all lab reports have title pages, but if your instructor wants one, it would be a single page that states: . The title of the experiment. Your name and the names of any lab partners. Your instructor's name. The date the lab was performed or the date the report was submitted.

  18. How to Write up a Science Experiment: 11 Steps (with Pictures)

    1. Start with an abstract. The abstract is a very short summary of the paper, usually no more than 200 words. Base the structure of your abstract on the structure of your paper. This will allow the reader to see in short form the purpose, results, and significance of the experiment.

  19. 27.5: Guide for writing a lab report

    Summary. Summarize your overall evaluation of the report in 2-3 sentences. Focus on the experiment's method and its result. For example, "The authors dropped balls from different heights to determine the value of g". You don't need to go into the specific details, just give a high level summary of the report.

  20. How to Write a Monitoring and Evaluation Report

    How to Write a Monitoring and Evaluation Report Good impact stories require excellent reporting. Having the right mix of quantitative evidence, well visualized and applied; positioning your case-studies, and providing the relevant theoretical background are all part of telling a good impact story.

  21. Writing an evaluation report

    Once you've completed these parts of your project, you'll be able to write your evaluation report: You have data that you've collected and analysed. You've got the software to help you design your report. You have an understanding of the people who'll be reading your report. There are helpful colleagues available to read your drafts.

  22. PDF Evaluation of research proposals: the why and what of the ERC's recent

    evaluation should give more weight to the project than to the applicant. This has been a practice in most ERC panels already, and we now explicitly indicate it in the ERC Work Programme. 5. Implementation of changes, guidance to applicants and evaluators The evaluation process must be as fair and as transparent as possible.

  23. How to write a good Evaluation

    How to write a good evaluation in science! Best and quickest explanation. There are some test yourself questions at the end on fair tests too! How to write a good evaluation in science! Best and ...

  24. How to write a conclusion and an evaluation for an experiment?

    Reply 1 10 years ago A Chlorophile In the conclusion, you're simply stating what you've learnt from your experiment and how it differs from your prediction. You could go on to explain some of the science from your conclusion (assuming the conclusion makes sense).

  25. Poll Ranks Biden as 14th-Best President, With Trump Last

    The survey, conducted by Mr. Vaughn, an associate professor of political science at Coastal Carolina University, and Mr. Rottinghaus, a professor of political science at the University of Houston ...

  26. Technical Advisory Group on Immunization and Vaccine-preventable

    The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members of the Technical Advisory Group on Immunization and Vaccine-preventable Diseases in the Western Pacific Region. This "Call for experts" provides information about the advisory group in question, the expert profiles being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection.BackgroundThe Technical ...

  27. QANTAS pays women 37% less, Telstra and BHP 20%. Fifty years after

    Of the almost 5,000 companies included in the WGEA report, almost 1,000 have a gender pay gap in median base earnings exceeding 20%. About 350 of these have a gap of over 30% and for about 100 ...