This assignment required me to locate two scientific lab reports using the CCNY library database and analyze them using the eight rhetorical elements. This analysis helped me understand how lab reports communicate research findings and how authors adapt their writing based on purpose and audience. By comparing the two reports, I was able to identify differences, which deepened my understanding of scientific writing.

Logan Sanchez

Professor Serhiy Metenko
ENGL 21007
March 11, 2025

Lab Report Analysis

Lab reports abide by an organized layout to successfully convey information that has been researched. This analysis will compare two lab reports. The first study “Evaluation of Praziquantel Effectiveness in Treating Nile Tilapia Clinostomid Infections and Its Relationships to Fish Health and Water Quality” is published by BMC Veterinary Research. The second study is “An Optimal Internet of Things-Driven Intelligent Decision-Making System for Real-Time Fishpond Water Quality Monitoring and Species Survival” published by Sensors. These reports were selected because they both center around aquaculture but take uniquely different approaches. They offer insight into two different fields, biological and engineering. BMC’s lab report focuses on examining antiparasitic treatment while sensors lab report presents a technological study of monitoring systems to improve water quality and species survival. When analyzing these reports, we will gain an understanding on the important structural properties in conveying scientific information, including clarity in the methods, organization of the results, and depth of the discussion.

Element 1: Title

A strong title should be specific to clearly indicate the subject of the study. It should shed light on the report’s focus while still being concise and informative. The title of lab report BMC, “Evaluation of Praziquantel effectiveness in treating Nile tilapia clinostomid infections and its relationships to fish health and water quality” is specific and clearly states the focus of the study. Sensors lab report also includes a specific title, “An Optimal Internet of Things-Driven Intelligent Decision-Making System for Real-Time Fishpond Water Quality Monitoring and Species Survival”. The title clearly describes the study’s focus and gives the reader a clear idea of the research scope.

Element 2: Abstract

Typically, in a lab report, the abstract is a concise summary of the study that covers the key sections including the introduction, methods results and implications. It allows readers to quickly understand the research. Both BMC and Sensors included an abstract in their lab reports, effectively summarizing their study’s key components. Both authors include headings to divide sections of the lab reports. Both abstracts followed a similar structure of the study’s goal, methods, findings and conclusion. However, Sensors lab report began the paragraph with a problem statement. This engages the reader and provides context that guides the reader towards the study’s purpose. BMC lab report implications relate to improved fish health and aquaculture management. Sensors lab report implications include technological advancements in smart aquaculture and environmental sustainability.

Element 3: Introduction

Under the introduction section of a lab report, the writer provides essential background information defining the research problem and explaining the study’s significance. This section should clearly present the authors hypothesis and explain its importance. A literature review should also be included. Both lab reports introduce a problem. Lab report BMC presents its issue of parasitic infections in aquaculture and lab report sensors, addresses the issue of water quality management in fish farming. Each author then follows their issues by emphasizing the studies importance. Lab report BMC hypothesizes that Praziquantel will be effective against Clinostomid infections, the passage includes many references citing past studies to support its claims. The rationale for the study is clearly stated, one of them being how aquaculture is crucial to meeting the global seafood demand (BMC, 2). Literature review is also discussed, citing past research on the impact of parasites. On the other side, lab report sensors propose the claim that an IoT-driven system will improve water quality management and fish survival rates. The rationale for this study is explained by several points, one of them being how parasites negatively impact fish health, affecting their marketability and consumer appeal (Sensors, 1). A literature review is included in this study which discusses past research on parasitic infections with citations to support their points.

Element 4: Methods

The methods section of a lab report plays an important part in ensuring that an experiment is easily replicable. This allows fellow researchers to replicate an experiment exactly by using the same methods and materials. The methods sections include detailed step by step guide of the materials and techniques that were used. Lab report BMC describes the study experimental setup, the subjects and the procedures implemented. They included a step-by-step description of the experimental procedure allowing the study to be easily replicated by others. Lab report sensors discuss the apparatuses, subjects, experimental procedure, also including data collection methods. However, it does not follow a step-by-step procedure. Instead, it focuses on components used and data processing making it harder to easily replicate. Both lab reports maintain an objective and formal tone while using the past tense, often using words like “were” and verbs ending in “-ed”.

Element 5: Results

The results section of a lab report introduces the study findings in an organized form. Utilizing tools such as charts, graphs, and tables to display data that was collected. The intention of this section is to provide proof of data rather than interpreting it, in which you would save for the discussion portion of a lab report. Lab report BMC included tables and charts to present their findings. They included visuals and images making it easier to interpret the data. However, Lab report Sensors combined their results and discussion section together making it difficult to examine each section. Regardless, they included tables, charts and even graphs to showcase their findings. The two authors thoroughly provide a detailed explanation of the all the data that they lay out.

Element 6: Discussion and analysis

The discussion and analysis section is where authors interpret their findings, connecting them to prior studies and discussing their significance. Lab report BMC clearly concludes that praziquantel is effective while emphasizing the importance of maintaining water quality. In addition, they compared their results to pervious research, discussing how their results align, validation their conclusions. Lab report sensors came to the conclusion that their IoT driven system successfully and efficiently monitors water quality enhancing species survival. However, unlike lab report BMC, lab report sensors compared their findings to other water monitoring methods to demonstrate how their system outperforms pervious systems. Lab report BMC did acknowledge limitations in their experimental setup like environmental variations and further testing in different aquaculture conditions. On the other side, Lab report sensors mentioned challenges like sensor accuracy and data processing, but they mostly focused on making potential improvements rather than talking more on specific issues with their study.

Element 7: Conclusion

The conclusion portion of a lab report is used to recap the important information that was discussed previously. Discussing implications of the research and recommending improvements for further studies. The author of Lab report BMC included implications of their findings specifically for aquaculture health management stating how the study contributes to understanding parasite treatments in Nile tilapia. They suggest future research in order to validate their findings across different environmental conditions. Lab report sensors also discussed implications noting the impact that their system has on sustainable aquaculture by increasing fish survival rates and optimizing water quality management. Furthermore, they suggest testing their system on a larger scale aquaculture environment to access reliability.

Element 8: Reference

The reference portion of a lab report is an important component used to correctly cite research, and acknowledge where researches gained their sources. It intends to keep the reports credible. Both lab reports included a reference section. Lab report BMC follows the APA citation style while lab report Sensors uses the IEEE citation style. In each of the passages, all cited works appear in the reference section, ensuring proper attribution.

Conclusion

After a thorough analysis of each study, we being to see the several similarities and differences. Both lab reports follow the standard structure of a scientific report, this includes the introduction, methods, results and discussion section. However, there are differences like their citation styles, BMC uses APA while Sensors uses IEEE. Also, the way they present their methods, BMC takes a step-by-step approach whereas Sensors takes a more descriptive route. This analysis did confirm my initial expectations. I expected to find a properly structured report with detailed explanations, effectively describe their findings and both reports met the criteria. Through this analysis, my understanding of lab reports has deepened, not only in the structure but more specifically the way that the information is presented can vary based on the field of study.

Works Cited

Kanwal, Saima, et al. “An Optimal Internet of Things-Driven Intelligent Decision-Making System for Real-Time Fishpond Water Quality Monitoring and Species Survival.” Sensors (14248220), vol. 24, no. 23, Dec. 2024, p. 7842. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/10.3390/s24237842.

Mahdy, Olfat A., et al. “Evaluation of Praziquantel Effectiveness in Treating Nile Tilapia Clinostomid Infections and Its Relationships to Fish Health and Water Quality : By.” BMC Veterinary Research, vol. 20, no. 1, Oct. 2024, p. 449. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/10.1186/s12917-024-04279-2.