Lab reports are something people hear often and may even have done in some form such as in a science class. However, most people do not truly understand what a real scientific lab report is. However, “Technical Communication,” written by Mike Markel, excellently explains what a lab report is and gives an in depth analysis of each aspect of it. To put it briefly, they are crafted such that the people who read it know that the author is reasonable and will take a look at the writing and see what you have to display. Markel goes on to describe the eight components within a lab report, and those are a title, abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusion, and references. The following will look in depth into a lab report and compare it’s eight components to the way Markel describes how they should function. The lab report in question is “Multi-objective integrated optimization study of prefabricated building projects introducing sustainable levels,” or Optimized Building Projects (OBP), produced by Junlong Peng, Yue Feng, Qi Zhang & Xiangjun Liu. Whilst the report looks good at first glance, it will take a deeper analysis of each individual component to determine whether it meets the standards that Markel sets.

Title

Beginning with the component of title, Optimized Building Projects does an excellent job in achieving Markel’s expectations for what a good title looks like. All the words are familiar to any reader who may see it, and it shows relative terms that makes it relatively easy to be found (Markel, chaper-19). Every word in the title is useful and in no way is it overly stretched out. The idea is clearly presented and is appealing enough for a reader who happens upon it to take a further look.

Abstract

The next component is abstract, and it is meant to be a brief summary of the lab report that is to come. A good abstract will have a structure mirrored to that of the lab report itself, with the remaining components relevant to the research to be discussed in order (Markel, chapter-19). OBP follows this rule for the most part within it’s abstract. It is a great summarization of the entire lab report while still keeping short and not giving away too many details. However, near the end, the discussion portion seemingly gets omitted from the abstract. The results and conclusions were combined as well and kept very brief. For that, it is not a perfect abstract, but nonetheless it does do its job of summarization.

Introduction

The introduction is the component that, just as the name suggests, introduces the topic at hand to the audience. Further than that however, it should define terms that most people wouldn’t likely know, as well as talk about prior research and developments for the topic (Markel, chapter-19). OBP checks off every single one of these boxes, as it makes sure all terms are known clearly understood, and gives data on the given issue as well as how much it has gotten worse. It even includes a chart detailing a roadmap of everything regarding their lab report and the topic.

Materials and Methods

Materials and methods is where you convince the audience that your solution is what’s right. This should be done with a concise description of your methods and procedures that anyone could replicate (Markel, chapter-19). Optimized Building Projects gets this component right as well, with each part of their procedure carefully laid out, and a clear and concise look into what they are trying to achieve. They once again include an easy-to-read chart here as well with their plan, as well as a math equation that is likely easy to read for those who are qualified and fully understand the topic.

Results

All the evidence and data is laid out in the results section of the lab report. You should make the reader really understand the data presented, and the data itself is organized as well (Markel, chapter-19). Whilst every other component so far was done well in OBP, this did not as there is no clear results section. It seems as if it was scattered across other sections of the text, however it is not clear and organized as much of the other sections have been.

Discussion

The discussion section is used to analyze the results of the lab report and it’s relation to the original hypothesis. To start, the most important findings are brought up first, and an explanation for them (Markel, chapter-19). OBP begins with an introduction that gives a rundown of its discoveries, and then discusses in more detail by section. It does well in talking about the results, and going very in-depth with great organization was a very nice touch as well.

Conclusion

The conclusion is a very simple component in a lab report. In about one or two paragraphs, discuss the purpose of the experiment, and summarize your findings, with no new data or information to be brought up (Markel, chapter-19). OBP manages to complete all of this in one paragraph that looks back on the entire experiment that was done. They discuss ways in which they succeeded and ways in which they need to improve, and it wraps everything up well overall.

References

The references section simply serves to list all the sources that you cited (Markel, chapter 19). Optimized Building Projects does this to perfection, and there is nothing really to critique in their delivery of the segment.

In conclusion, the Optimized Building Projects lab report follows the guidelines set by Markel very well. Almost every section was just as he described in his textbook, with no more or no less than what he asks for. The only section they got wrong was the one they did not include at all, and that was the results section. However, they opted to spread that out in their lab report instead, so they had simply deployed a different strategy. All in all, the authors of OBP did a great job with their work, and their writing serves as a great example of what an ideal lab report should look like.

References

Peng, Junlong, et al. “Multi-Objective Integrated Optimization Study of Prefabricated Building Projects Introducing Sustainable Levels.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 17 Feb. 2023, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-29881-6#Sec19.