REPORT FILE LAYOUT - SCIENTIFIC METHOD PROJECTS 

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• File must be neatly laid out – begin with a contents page, use labelled dividers, file in a logical order.

• At front of file -  plagiarism pledge, research plan, abstract, code of conduct, survey permission letter (s) and supervising scientist’s letter.

• Introduction including literature review and background research – why the project was selected, including evidence of background research and the value of the project.

• Problem statement or focus question.

• Aim – to find out/to determine etc.

• Hypothesis – statement that is to be tested, which includes independent and dependent variables.

• Method – how the project was carried out, including the fixed variables. Written in the third person - no pronouns.

• Results (what happened and all tables and graphs).

• Analysis of results (results/findings/graphs explained in words, more extensive in this report than on poster).

• Discussion including errors and modifications (patterns and trends are noted and explained, anomalies/unusual results are discussed, limitations noted and clarified).

• Conclusion(s) – refer directly to hypothesis. Incorporates key results and supports the hypothesis.

• References – which books and webpages consulted. These must be referenced correctly. The first reference must be the one where the project idea came from.

• Acknowledgments – people spoken to, all those who assisted with the project in any way. State what help was given