The

1
The Astronomy view on report writing
2
2nd Year Laboratory Experimental Report

• All scientific reports should be arranged in
  sections.
• It is helpful to number sections and divide each
  section into subsections with meaningful
  subheadings where required.
• Grammar and spelling are very important
• Redrafting extremely important for readability
• Start with rough notes i.e. a skeleton outline
• Redraft several times reading afresh each time.

3
The sections in your report

• Abstract
• 1. Introduction (including any theory)
• 2. Experimental details
• 3. Results
• 3.1 Overview
• 3.2 First set of results
• 3.3 Second set of results
• 4. Discussion
• 5. Summary or Conclusions
• References

4
Grammar and Spelling

• In many branches of physics the convention is to
  write in the third person and the passive tense,
  i.e. "the voltage was measured at ten second
  intervals" rather than "I/we measured the
  voltage...".
• Note, however, that in astronomy journals many
  authors write in the first person. (we). Check
  with your marker if you are unsure.
• It doesnt matter to us (astro) which one you
  chose, but be consistent!

5
Grammar and Spelling

• In many branches of physics the convention is to
  write in the third person and the passive tense,
  i.e. "the voltage was measured at ten second
  intervals" rather than "I/we measured the
  voltage...".
• Note, however, that in astronomy journals many
  authors write in the first person (we). Check
  with your marker if you are unsure.
• Use the present tense for statements which are
  still true rather than actions pursued in the
  past, i.e. "the work function was calculated from
  the Fowler-Nordheim equation to be 4.0 eV which
  is in agreement with the published value".
• Theoretical statements are also written in the
  present tense, e.g. "The condition for maxima in
  the intensity is given by the equation...".

6
Grammar and Spelling

• Spell check your report.
• Carefully proof read your work.
• Read what is there, not what you thought you
  wrote (youll need a gap between writing and
  re-reading if this is to work properly)
• Is it understandable to someone who doesnt know
  the expt?
• Do you trip up on any sentences?
• Get someone else to read it to be sure that it
  makes sense.

7
2nd Year Laboratory Experimental Report

• All scientific reports should be arranged in
  sections.
• It is helpful to number sections and divide each
  section into subsections with meaningful
  subheadings where required.
• Grammar and spelling are very important.
• There is no one conventional format that is
  followed in all cases but a good laboratory
  report should follow the style of scientific
  papers (e.g. one of the Physical Review or
  Institute of Physics journals).
• Use the Departmental template for assessed work
  (see module web pages).

8
Demonstration of Three-Dimensional Electrostatic
Trapping of State-Selected Rydberg Atoms S. D.
Hogan and F. Merkt Laboratorium für Physikalische
Chemie, ETH Zürich, CH-8093, Switzerland (Received
15 September 2007 published 30 January 2008) A
three-dimensional trap for Rydberg atoms in
selected Stark states has been realized
experimentally. H atoms seeded in a supersonic
expansion of Ar are excited to the low-field
seeking n 30, k 25, m 0, 2 Rydberg-Stark
states, decelerated from a mean initial velocity
of 665 m/s to zero velocity in the laboratory
frame and loaded into a three-dimensional
electrostatic trap. The motion of the cold
Rydberg atom cloud in the trap and the decay of
the trapped atoms have been studied by pulsed
electric field ionization and imaging techniques.
Not clear if they are reporting the trap, or if
this has been done before. Equally unclear if
the experimental statements refer to their work
or others ionization and imaging techniques
doesnt tell the reader what was found. No
motivation for why they are performing the
experiment
9
Abstract

• Context
• Due to their wide availability, abstracts are an
  important part of any paper
• Aims
• Many authors write bad abstracts, and so here we
  provide some guidelines to help you write a
  better one.
• Method
• Here we outline how to structure an abstract by
  ensuring it contains certain core elements and a
  strong narrative.
• Results
• We demonstrate with examples how this style of
  abstract aids readability and makes your paper or
  report more interesting, especially if you make
  sure you include important numerical results
  here.
• Conclusion
• On the basis of this we encourage all authors to
  consider using a similar approach when writing an
  abstract. We finally recommend that an abstract
  be written once all other elements are complete.
• Adapted from Bertout Schneider 2005 AA 441 3-6

10
1. Introduction

• The basic physics being investigated.
• A brief account of the principles behind the
  experimental methods adopted and an indication of
  the scope and significance of the work.
• An introduction to the rest of your report.
• Start with general background and context focus
  down to relevant details finish by stating your
  aims
• Be understandable to someone who has not done the
  experiment
• Dont include experimental details or results.

11
2. Experimental Details

• This section should include details of the
  apparatus and methods used - draw diagrams!
• Do not describe how standard equipment works.
• Special pieces of equipment merit more space.
• Describe any non-standard methods which you used
  comment on experimental procedures.
• Do not give a "recipe" for the reader.
• Use past tense to describe what you did.
• Report what you did and why and any problems
  encountered.

12
3. Experimental Results (and Discussion)

• You may remind the reader of what it is you are
  trying to measure and show how this is to be
  accomplished.
• You should always give a concise description of
  how your results were deduced from your raw data.
• You may also choose to include a preliminary
  discussion of your data. For example, do your
  results agree with previously published results
  or theory? But this is also fine in discussion
• Use full paragraphs
• Comment on the quality of any fits you make and
  if your error bars have been over or
  underestimated.

13
You must show your results!

• The raw data, or processed data, should be
  presented in the clearest possible way - tables
  or graphs but not both.
• Dont include unnecessary tables
• Dont use tables for just a few numbers that
  could be in the text
• Always quote errors on measured quantities.
• Graphs should be drawn using a data plotting
  package.
• The derivation of results from graphs must be
  shown clearly.
• Scales should be carefully chosen to most clearly
  indicate any features in the data.
• Carefully explain how your errors were estimated.
  Error bars/crosses should be shown on some if not
  all of the points.

14
Displayed material

• Figures should be given self contained figure
  captions placed below the figure. There is no
  need to give the figure a title.
• Figures and tables should be numbered
  consecutively
• i.e. Figure 1, Figure 2a, Figure 2b, Figure 3,
  etc. Table 1, Table 2.
• Always refer to figures by these figure numbers.
  All figures should be referenced in the text in
  the order they appear.
• Graphs are Figures.
• All diagrams, photographs, etc. are also Figures.
• Carefully consider how to combine data sets in
  each figure to clearly display your data.

15
Poor Quality Graphs
Figure 1. M versus x
16
Graphs
Figure 1. Magnetisation versus Mn composition, x,
for a series of Y(Al1-xMnx) intermetallic
samples. The data () were collected at a
temperature of 5 K in an applied field, H, of 50
A/m using a SQUID magnetometer. The red line is a
least squares fit to the data using the model of
Jones et al. 1 and confirms the linear increase
in the magnetisation with Mn concentration x.
17
4. Discussion

• Start with a concise summary of your results
• Discuss the significance of your results when
  compared with the published results or accepted
  theories.
• Are your results consistent with accepted values
  or not
• Dont use reasonable agreement quantify it!
• Discuss the sources of error, the problems
  encountered in your own investigation and their
  effect on the end result.
• When listing possible sources of error, ascertain
  which are important and which are not, be
  quantative if possible
• Construct arguments and give evidence
• Consider the advantages and disadvantages of the
  experimental method you have used.
• You could include a section summarising the
  contents of your report, reiterating the points
  you feel are important and giving the conclusions
  of your experimental investigation.

18
References

• List the primary sources you have used to write
  your report
• Cite these references in the text, for example,
  "...previous studies have shown 1..." and at
  the end of the report list these references in
  order of their reference number
• Bibliographic material can be included, for
  example, ...a more complete discussion is given
  in ref. 2.
• If you cite the same source more than once you
  need only list it once in the references, for
  example page 10 of ref. 2 could be followed later
  by 2 chapter 6.

19
Make sure your references are given in an
acceptable format (see the library quiz) 1 I.
D. Hughes et al., Nature 446, 650 (2007). 2 S.
Blundell, Magnetism in Condensed Matter (Oxford
University Press, Oxford, 2001).
20
2nd Year Laboratory Experimental Report
Any questions?
21
Timetable for the meetings
Academic(s) Experiment code Room Time
Peter Wheatley A3 Radio Telescopes R0.03/4 5 p.m.
Andrew Levan A2 Astronomical Instrumentation R1.04 5 p.m.
Levan and Wheatley A1 Astronomical Distances R0.03/4 5.30 p.m.

Andrew Howes P3 NMR MAS 2.05/2.06 5 p.m.
Gavin Bell P1 Ultrasound P521 5 p.m.
Martin Lees P4 X-ray Powder Diffraction P523 5 p.m.

Jim Robinson S1 and S3 Gamma Ray Spectroscopy B2.02 5 p.m.
Jon Duffy S2 Compton Scattering TBC Friday from 1 p.m.
22
(No Transcript)