MENG 4212

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MENG 4212

• EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS REPORTS

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Elements of the Report

• Title Page
• Summary
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results

• Discussion
• Conclusions
• Recommendations
• References
• Appendices

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The Summary

• Encapsulate the major portions of the report and
  address an audience that might not read the rest
  of the document
• State what was done and what the outcome was
• No details should be included
• No equations
• It must stand on its own

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The Introduction

• Objective
• The purpose of writing the report
• Scope
• Describe how broad or how limited the treatment
  of the subject will be
• Background
• Concise background of the subject and the
  significance of the work
• Demonstrate continuity from previous work

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The Materials and Methods Section

• Materials
• Specify equipment and material used (name, model
  and serial number)
• Methods
• Describe how equipment was set up and used
• Describe conditions under which the work was
  performed
• Describe how the results were recorded and
  analyzed

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The Results Section

• Present experimental data and results of data
  reduction
• Include sample calculations of all data
  reductions (if long, put in an Appendix)
• Dont discuss data here
• Tabulate/chart raw and reduced data (if
  extensive, just summarize rest in Appendix)
• Cite where raw data is recorded (e.g., lab
  notebook no. xxx)

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The Discussion Section

• Review, analyze data from the Results section
• Describe meaning, significance, importance of the
  results
• Present principles, relationships,
  generalizations supported by the results
• Point out exceptions or lack of correlation
  (explain)
• Compare with expected results or results of
  others in literature

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The Conclusions Section

• State how the results address the objective of
  the investigation

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The Recommendations Section (Optional)

• Make recommendations for further investigations
  where needed
• describe how they should be conducted
• Make recommendations for how this investigation
  could be improved

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The References Section

• List references only if cited in the report
• Cite where the data reside
• Should be your lab notebook (identify properly)

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The Appendices

• Use for supporting information too long, too
  cumbersome for the body of text
• Examples
• Raw data (photocopies of lab notebook pages)
• Lengthy test protocols
• Extensive mathematical derivations
• Computer program listings, printouts
• Equipment performance or calibration data
• Extensive tables, figures, photographs

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General Information

• The goal is for each lab report to be a
  professional-quality report.
• Reports must be typewritten or word processed
  unless you are told otherwise
• Use 8.5 x 11, unlined white paper
• If graphs are done by hand, they must be on graph
  paper (if small, they can be taped to a typed
  page of text)
• more...

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General Information (cont.)

• Language and Style
• Report must be technically AND grammatically
  correct
• Writing must be clear and understandable
• Use third person, past tense avoid excessive use
  of passive voice
• Equations should be introduced with text
  connecting it to the rest of the text.
• more...

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General Information (cont.)

• Equations must be numbered sequentially.
• No charts, tables, or equations should appear
  that are not referred to in the text.
• Units are to be consistently SI, Technical
  English, or English Engineering.
• more...

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General Information (cont.)

• All figures, charts, and tables must be numbered
  and captioned.
• Axes of all graphs must be labeled and units
  noted.
• Tabular data must have rows and/or columns
  labeled and units noted.
• A report-writing checklist (provided) must be
  completed and attached to each report.

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Report-Writing Checklist
All sections required in the prescribed format
for this report are included. _________ All the
required information is included on the title
page. ______________ Equations used in the
report (if any) are sequentially numbered.
______________ All figures have numbers and
captions. _______________ Axes of all graphs are
labeled. The units of variables (if any) are
noted. If more than one set of data are plotted
on the same graph, different symbols have been
used, and a legend has been included to identify
each symbol. A curve fit or smooth line has been
drawn through the data if appropriate.
______________   All numerical data have been
neatly tabulated. Each table has a number and a
caption. All columns and/or rows have been
labeled with the name of the variable being
tabulated. Units of variables (if any) are
noted. _____________   I have used a consistent
set of units throughout. _____________   I have
used a spelling checker on the final draft of
this report. __________   I have proofread the
final version of this report. __________   I have
not engaged in scholastic dishonesty in preparing
this report in particular, I have not committed
plagiarism or collusion as defined in the UT-T
Academic Dishonesty Policy ______________
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Summary Elements of the Report

• Title Page
• Summary
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results

• Discussion
• Conclusions
• Recommendations
• References
• Appendices

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The End