InLab: the lab procedure
Name: _______________________________________
Date: ________________________________________
Lab Section:___________________________________
Lab Title: _____________________________________
Note:
Once you print this page, you will have the handout version, which only
contains the InLab steps for "Designing Your Own Lab Experiments."
For more help or additional information, you'll need to go to the on-line
version of "Designing Your Own Lab Experiments at InLab http://labwrite.ncsu.edu
where you can view additional materials on-line or obtain a full printable
version from the "Designing Your Own Lab Experiments" InLab
SelfGuide.
1.
Setting up the lab:
Take
notes as you set up your experiment and calibrate instruments to help
you document your experimental protocol so that you may use it later
when writing the Methods section of your lab report. On a sheet of paper
or in your lab manual or in a formal lab
notebook, list the lab materials you'll be using and describe the
set-up for this experiment. Take notes about potential sources
of uncertainty so that you may refer to them when you are writing
the Discussion section of your lab report. You may want to or may be
required to draw and label the instrument(s) you'll be using.
2. Preparing a table or spreadsheet for recording
your data:
Using
the information you have gathered about the data you will be collecting
and list of variables from your PreLab as a guide, create a
raw data table or set up a spreadsheet
for entering data from your experiment.
3.
Conducting the experiment:
Conduct your experiment
as set up in the PreLab and record your data in a table or spreadsheet
(see question 2 above). Take detailed notes on your experimental procedures.
It's also important to note any problems you have with the experiment;
these notes could be useful when writing the Discussion. Describe in
writing or sketch out on a sheet of paper your observations as you collect
data during the experiment (observations are potentially significant
things that are not reflected in the measurements: color, smell, interesting
reactions, unexpected behaviors, etc.)
As you record your
data, take note of any trends emerging in the data. You should be asking
yourself various questions: What are the relationships
among the variables? Do the data behave in the way that you had
anticipated? If not, why not? You may need to consider sources
of uncertainty once again. Sources of uncertainty may affect the
accuracy
and precision of your experimental data.
4.
Visualizing the data:
Now that you have
entered your data in a table or spreadsheet, you are ready to represent
the data in the appropriate visual format for your lab report. Representing
your data in a visual format will allow you to identify trends and relationships
among variables more easily. Follow these steps:
- Establish what types of
data you have, quantitative or qualitative (refer to the Resources
page in the web version of this document; once there, choose "Data
Types").
- Determine if the data
should be represented as a table or a graph (refer to the Resources
page in the web version of this document; once there, choose "Tables
vs. Graphs").
- If you decide to use a
graph to represent your data, determine which type of graph
is one that best represents your data (refer to the Resources page
in the web version of this document; once there, choose "Graph
Types").
- If a table is the best
format for your data, then modify the table you used to collect your
data so that it is labeled and organized properly (refer to the Resources
page in the web version of this document; once there, choose "Designing
Tables").
- If you need help creating
a spreadsheet to make a table or graph, refer to the Resources page
in the web version of this document. Once there, choose "Excel
Tutorial."
- Remember that the purpose
of your table or graph is to summarize your findings for yourself
and for others and to reveal trends in your data.
5.
Using your data to solve your research problem:
Review all your
data--tables, graphs, and drawings--to establish whether or not or to
what degree the data support your hypothesis. Next, use what you have
learned from comparing data to the hypothesis to answer your research
question. State the answer as best you can in a sentence or two. Then
return to the original problem you were given to solve, both the knowns
and the unknowns that you defined in Question 1 of the PreLab. Does
the answer to your research question resolve the unknowns and allow
you to solve the problem? If so, write the solution. If your answer
still does not provide a satisfactory resolution to your research question
and the original problem, you may need to explore alternatives: a different
experiment, a different hypothesis, a different research question.
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