­Hints to Help with your Report – EEI 6 - Analytical Chemistry

Remember: You should be constantly referring to the criteria sheet to guide you as you write your report. Below are some addition hints that may help.

Title
The title should be short and unambiguous, yet be an adequate description of the work. It should contain the key words describing the work presented.
2. Introduction 2.1 Background (Why did you start?)
The purpose of the introduction is to demonstrate that you have a story worth telling. In the introduction the research question (What is your research question? Decide exactly what the question you want to answer is) is stated and the reader is orientated towards the relevant literature. It should guide the reader through a piece of logical thinking that ends in a statement of what the investigation is about and what alternatives might be expected from it. Don’t forget to reference any facts or data you use that you have gained from other sources. 2.2 Aim (What did you try to do?)
Write a statement saying what you were trying to do. Your statement should begin with “To” followed by a verb. Eg. do, verify, measure, identify, collect, observe, check etc. 2.3 Hypothesis (What did you think would happen?)
A hypothesis is a possible answer to your research question that can be tested for truth or falsehood. You need to suggest a particular relationship between the independent and dependent variables and justify why you think your hypothesis is correct. Usually both variables are included in the statement. It should be written as an “If ….Then….Because” statement.

HYPOTHESIS
What do you think will happen? Suggest a particular relationship between the independent and dependent variables. VARIABLES
Variables are the things that you change, or decide not to change, in an experiment. They are the very things you are investigating.
IF…(I am going to investigate)

Independent variable. Write down the variable you are going to change.
THEN… (What I think will happen)

Dependent variable. Write down the variable you are going to measure.
BECAUSE…(Why I think it will happen) Controlled variables. Make a list of all the things you will need to keep the same.

3. Materials and Equipment
List all materials and equipment used in the investigation. Materials are consumables such as chemicals. Equipment includes apparatus, glassware, stopwatches.
4. Experimental Procedure (What did you do?)
Your method will relate what you did and how you carried out the investigation. It needs to be written in the third person and past tense. The reader does not want to know what should have been done, nor get “How to” instructions. The procedure is a historical account of how it was done. It should be written so that a person not familiar with the investigation should be able to duplicate the task and get the same result.
5. Results (What happened in your experiment?)
You need to give some thought to how the results are presented. Tables and graphs will help with the presentation, as will careful thought about the arrangement and sequence of figures. Observations can be recorded as descriptions, measurements, drawings or photographs. Correct units and symbols must be used. After each table or figure write a brief section in which you clearly identify any trends or patterns in your data or examine any mathematical relationships in your data.

*** Spend considerable time thinking about what your results mean. Ask yourself how your results connect