Biological Science: Home

Identify and Develop a Topic

Selecting a research topic is much like deciding on a travel destination. Once you have narrowed your ideas to an interesting subject, write down a brief statement about this topic. For example: "Rock groups of the 60s, their popularity and major influence on the music industry."  Once the topic is selected, write down specific questions that you'll want to answer. The research process will drive your destination. Your original topic may develop into something entirely different. You may choose to follow an alternate path and go down a different road.

Find Background Information

After determining the topic, you can map out your route. You must identify the types of sources that will provide the information needed, then determine where to find these sources. Types of sources that should be considered include books, periodicals, the Internet, and other libraries (through interlibrary loan).

The key to finding books is the online library catalog called Discovery.  Search in Discovery by selecting a keyword that best describes your topic. You can also search by title, author, subject, or keyword. In addition to books, the catalog allows you to search for periodicals, government documents, audiovisual material, and Special Collections.   

 If you get lost during your sight-seeing trip, stop and ask directions. The following reference sources will be most useful to acquire quick answers to any questions you may have.

•  Begin with Encyclopedias, then to get off the main drag, use Subject Encyclopedias.

•  What does it mean?  Use a Dictionary.       

•  How much, how many?  Find Statistical Information.

•  Who?  Find Biographical Information.

•  How can I get in touch?  Use a Directory.

•  Where do I go from here?  Bibliographies.

Find Journal Articles

Periodicals include newspapers, magazines, and journals. They are published regularly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly. Journals are periodicals containing articles written by experts in a particular field of study. If the researcher wrote the article, is it a primary source. If reporters write the article, such as in popular magazines, it is a secondary source. Typically, journal articles contain extensive bibliographies that lead to additional sources.

Journal List - If there is a specific journal that you are looking for, this will take you directly to McFarlin's holdings.

Discovery - If there is a specific article that you are looking for, you can search Summon with that article's title.

Database List - If you don't have a specific journal or article in mind, then McFarlin's databases will allow you to search multiple journals with a keyword.

Laboratory Reports

Laboratory reports communicate the findings of a single experiment or short set of experiments. The report usually includes a brief experimental objective (usually one sentence), a short introduction (to provide the context for the research), description of the methods used, a detailed report of the data obtained (including relevant tables and figures), an interpretation of the results, and references.

Title

• The title of the lab report should be descriptive of the experiment and reflect what the experiment analyzed. 
  • Ex: "Determining the Free Chlorine Content of Pool Water"

Introduction

• The introduction of a lab report discusses the problem being studied and other theory that is relevant to understanding the findings. 
• The hypothesis of the experiment and the motivation for the research are stated in this section. 
• Write the introduction in your own words. Try not to copy from a lab manual or other guidelines. Instead, show comprehension of the experiment by briefly explaining the problem.

Methods and Materials

• The methods and materials section provides an overview of any equipment, apparatus, or other substances used in the experiment, as well as the steps taken during the experiment. If using any specific amounts of materials, make sure the amount is listed. 
  • Ex: pipette, graduated cylinder, 1.13mg of Na, 0.67mg Ag
• List the steps taken as they actually happened during the experiment, not as they were supposed to happen. 
• If written correctly, another researcher should be able to duplicate the experiment and get the same or very similar results. 

Results

• The results show the data that was collected or found during the experiment. 
• Explain in words the data that was collected.
• If using graphs, charts, or other figures, present them in the results section of the lab report. 
  • Tables should be labeled numerically, as "Table 1", "Table 2", etc. Other figures should be labeled numerically as "Figure 1", "Figure 2", etc. 
• Calculations to understand the data can also be presented in the results. 

Discussion

• The discussion section is one of the most important parts of the lab report. It analyzes the results of the experiment and is a discussion of the data. 
• If any results are unexpected, explain why they are unexpected and how they did or did not effect the data obtained. 
• Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the design of the experiment and compare your results to other similar experiments.
• If there are any experimental errors, analyze them.
• Explain your results and discuss them using relevant terms and theories.
• When writing a discussion, try to answer these questions:
  • What do the results indicate?
  • What is the significance of the results?
  • Are there any gaps in knowledge?
  • Are there any new questions that have been raised?

Conclusion

• The conclusion is a summation of the experiment. It should clearly and concisely state what was learned and its importance.
• If there is future work that needs to be done, it can be explained in the conclusion.

References

• If using any outside sources to support a claim or explain background information, those sources must be cited in the references section of the lab report. 
• In the event that no outside sources are used, the references section may be left out.