11 Informal Report
11 Informal Report
The informal report, or short report, is more condensed than the formal report, but it is
just as important. The writing style and audience for the short report are the same as for
the formal report. The main difference is the sections that are omitted. An outline is
given below.
Lower case items are not headings. Headings are in capital letters. Lettered items are
not headings either, but are simply descriptive labels for the content of the report. The
Introduction, Apparatus/Results, and Discussion sections make up the main body of the
report.
OUTLINE FOR THE INFORMAL REPORT
Title page
a.
b.
c.
d.
title
authors name
course
date of experiment
INTRODUCTION
a. purpose/ overview
b. why important to field
c. objective(s) for this particular experiment
DESCRIPTION OF APPARATUS/RESULTS
a. apparatus: understanding + description
b. schematic of apparatus
c. procedure followed for obtaining results
d. important governing equations
e. description of results
f. tables and graphs presenting results
g. uncertainties
h. relevant comparisons with theory
DISCUSSION
a. brief review of results, if necessary
b. discussion (trends in results, comparison with theory, answers to discussion
questions in Report Requirements section)
c. conclusions supported by data
APPENDICES
a. sample calculations
b. uncertainty analysis
c. data acquisition program with a list of channel assignments
d. original data
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