Report Guidelines:

Lab 11 Ethograms
I.

Lab assignment questions DONT FORGET TO TURN YOUR LAB QUESTIONS IN WITH YOUR
REPORT!!! (10 points)
a. HINT: The Discussion Section of your lab report should include a portion of the answer
for Question #4.

II.

Introduction (2.5 points)

a. Provide a brief intro on the behavioral ecology of the organism you are studying for this
experiment
b. Summarize in your own words the objective of the lab
c. State your research question and hypothesis

III.

Methods (2.5 points)

a. Detailed OVERVIEW (i.e. do not use a bulleted outline format) of your procedure +
materials. Full sentences and paragraph format please, no bullets!
b. What was your independent variable? Dependent/response variable?
c. What were your experiment treatments?
d. State what statistical methods you used to analyze your data

IV.

Results & Analysis (5 points)

a. Tables and graphs
i. Label should include table/graph # and a detailed caption describing what the
table/graph shows. EX: Table 1. Summary of Atlantic and Gulf Cockle shell
length
ii. Include units!
iii. Please use Excel or Word to create your figures and tables
b. Analysis
i. Include all statistical calculations and results from the lab assignment:
1. Test statistics: # of behaviors observed, behavior duration, behavior
frequency
c. Summarize your results

i. A general rule of thumb: write 1-2 sentences explaining what each table, graph
or statistic is showing.
1. Results section DESCRIBES your results (WHAT were my results?)
2. Discussion section EXPLAINS your results (WHY did I get these results?)
ii. Be sure to reference the tables/figures in your text.
1. EX: The mean shell length for the Atlantic Cockle was 2.2 cm and 4.2 for
the Gulf Cockle (Table 2).
2. EX: Table 1 summarizes shell lengths for the Atlantic and Gulf Cockle
samples.
V.

Discussion (10 points)

a. What do you conclude about your original research question? Do you accept your
hypothesis? Why or why not?
b. Identify any ecological processes that could explain why you got the results you did
c. Compare your results to what you would expect in a real world situation. Were there
any flaws in your methods or sampling procedure which may have biased your results?
d. Provide suggestions for future studies or experiments. How could this experiment have
been improved?
e. This section will most likely require that you look information up from your textbook,
online, journals, etc. BE SURE TO CITE YOUR SOURCES WITHIN THE TEXT AND LISTED AT
THE END OF YOUR REPORT IN THE REFERENCES SECTION!!!

VI.

References
a. Remember to use proper in text citations and bibliography. Basic MLA format is
acceptable. LAB REPORTS WITHOUT CITATIONS WILL DOCKED POINTS FOR PLAGERISM,
including information that is written in the report but clearly is NOT in laboratory
handouts.
b. Visit www.owl.english.purdue.edu for help with citations