Animal Behavior
Lab Report Checklist:
The Introduction should be at least two
paragraphs. Begin with background information about the theoretical
reasons for our investigations (e.g. how do time, energy, and risk
considerations apply to the time/activity budget of White-fronted
geese? how does optimal foraging theory apply to seed-harvester ant
foraging?). The Introduction should proceed from general statements to
more specific statements, and most statements should be applicable to
any animal species. Set up the major points you address in the
Discussion here in the Introduction. The Introduction should end
with a clear, concise statement of the purpose or goal of the
investigation.
Methods:
Specify date, time, and locality of our field work. Include as precise
a geographic location as possible, making reference to permanent
landmarks and political designations (e.g. city, county, state).
Include specific information on what we did both in the field and lab.
Include a succinct description of the natural history of the study
organism (e.g. preferred habitat and microhabitat, body size, color and
color patterns, pelage and plumage, sexual dimorphism, communication,
social behavior, other aspects of behavior that were not part of our
observations, etc.).
Include a brief but complete description of the key characteristics of
the habitat in which the work was done (e.g. topography, vegetation,
substrate, important geographic features). Include features of the
aquatic habitat when we observe animals in or near such habitats.
Results:
In general, present the most important result of an investigation as a
bold and forceful statement that will catch the reader's attention. DO NOT begin a Results section with
statements such as “The results are summarized in Table 1.” DO begin a results section with
statements such as "Larger females produced significantly more
offspring than smaller females", then support such statements with data
(means, variances, sample sizes) and statistical tests (e.g. Fs or t
values, P values).
Qualitative results should also be a series of concise text statements
that are clear descriptions of postures, movements, locomotion,
interactions and their outcomes, or any other interesting behaviors
that we observe. These descriptions should be in plain English with
minimal jargon or BS. The series of statements should follow some
logical progression (e.g. describe postures before movements which
change the postures, describe movements used in displays before
describing interactions in which the displays are used). If possible
(or desirable) include sketches of body postures or that indicate
movement patterns. I don't expect great art, because I can't produce
that myself. Do the best you can.
Quantitative results should be presented as a series of succinct text
statements supported by data and by statistical tests. In some cases,
means and associated values, and sample statistics, may be presented in
a table or figure. See "Statistics for Novices" for appropriate ways to
present such data.
Usually it is best to separate results into a series of paragraphs that
address each aspect of our data set or observations. It may be
desirable in some instances to present results under separate
subheadings (e.g. "Postures and displays", "Body size and aggression",
etc.). In some cases, the results section will be the shortest part of
the report. It may be possible to have a results section that is a
single sentence, which includes all of the necessary information about
our results.
The Discussion should begin
with a summary and interpretation of the important results (but don't
repeat descriptions of data), followed by detailed exploration of a few
major points that are raised by the data. Try not to confuse several
issues; address them separately, but draw connections if they exist.
Don't try to explore every possible ramification of the data set;
concentrate on the most important ones. Concentrate on your story and
ruthlessly eliminate everything else. Don't speculate too wildly, but
if you think some important point is raised by the data, mention it.