Analysis of Three Lab Reports on the Effects on Sleep Quality by Multiple Factors
Keeth Perera
City College of New York
ENGL 21007: Writing for Engineering
Professor Crystal Rodwell
03/28/2024
There are many experiments and studies conducted by researchers to help answer their questions and develop their understanding of a topic. A lab report is a composition made by a researcher to explain an experiment and its findings. This lab report analysis will be analyzing three lab reports based on its content. These lab reports are all related to the topic of sleep position and sleep quality. These three Lab reports all try to achieve similar findings about sleep quality using good research. Therefore, there are factors which make these reports similar however some factors can make each lab report distinct.
In Lab Report 1, “Sleep Position, Age, Gender, Sleep Quality, and Waking Cervico-Thoracic Symptoms”, the survey investigated the association between sleep position, sleep quality, age, gender, and the prevalence of pain, stiffness, or aching in the neck, arm, between the scapulae, and headaches. The research found that the participants sleeping in an upright position were more likely to experience the symptoms of interest compared to subjects that slept in other positions.
Lab Report 2 , “The Relationship between Sleeping Position and Sleep Quality: A Flexible Sensor-Based Study”, was an experiment, where flexible wearable sensors were used to monitor the impact of sleeping positions and turning frequency, and studying sleep patterns, to find that the most influential factors were the preference of sleeping position and how often the participant turned.
Lab Report 3, “Examining relationships between sleep posture, waking spinal symptoms and quality of sleep: A cross sectional study”was an experiment, where sleep posture and sleep quality were compared in participants with or without specific spinal symptoms. The research found that participants in the symptomatic groups had reported a lower sleep quality than the Control group.
A good title of a lab report should give the reader some insight about information about the experiment as well as what kind of study is being reported. The title of Lab Report 1 , “Sleep Position, Age, Gender, Sleep Quality, and Waking Cervico-Thoracic Symptoms”, lists the variables discussed in the report. However, this title does not really define any relationship between the variables. It does not really give the reader any clues about what the lab report could possibly look like.
The title of Lab report 2 , “The Relationship between Sleeping Position and Sleep Quality: A Flexible Sensor-Based Study”, includes variables of the lab report, like in Lab report 1, and it is also shown that there is a relationship between the variables. The title also reveals some information from the lab report, such as the fact that the study is a flexible sensor-based study.
The title of Lab report 3, “Examining relationships between sleep posture, waking spinal symptoms and quality of sleep: A cross sectional study”, also mentions some variables in the experiment like in Lab Report 1 & 2. The title also explains the relationship between certain variables, similar to lab report 2. Information about the experiment is also given by stating the study is cross sectional.
The abstract of a lab report is meant to summarize the content of the lab report. It briefly explains each part of the lab report. The abstract of lab report 1 provides the necessary information about the survey. This abstract makes a good overview of the lab report as it is divided into each section. It provides enough detail so that the reader gets an idea of what the lab report will be about.
The abstract of lab report 2 is summarized very well. The method is summarized with the most detail and explains the procedure of the experiment. However, the other sections are quite brief. This is unlike Lab Report 1, where the results were mostly in detail with everything else brief.
In lab report 3, the abstract is well organized as it is divided by section, similar to lab report 1. This makes it easy for the reader to see. Each section summarized in this abstract is in enough detail for the reader to know about the experiment.
The introduction of a lab report helps the reader get an understanding of the topic of the lab report. It gives the reader the necessary information to understand the rest of the lab report. In Lab report 1, the introduction introduces the reader to individual sleep positions and sleep habits. It goes into detail about different habits such as the tendency of turning in sleep. This introduction, introduces the relationship of sleep position with other variables such as sleep quality and body pain.
In Lab Report 2 This introduction discussed several issues related to sleep quality. It also mentioned a relationship between sleep position and sleep quality. There is a discussion about which other factors affect sleep quality as well, such as mattress pressure, however, sleep posture is the most reasonable variable.
In Lab report 3 This introduction also discusses factors involving sleep quality such as sleep position. There is a discussion of different problems related to sleep and their causes and consequences, including spinal pain. This introduction still discusses sleep posture as a reasonable variable that affects sleep quality like in lab reports 1 and 2. However, pain and other variables are also described as causes for low sleep quality.
The Materials and Methods of a lab report are meant to explain how the procedure will be done and how the experiment will be conducted. In Lab report 1, the method of this study is by taking a survey of a sample of a community in South Australia. The sample was every three houses apart in the community and they were surveyed via phone call. Participants taking the survey had to state which sleep position they are in most frequently as well as if they had any medical conditions and for a rating of their usual sleep quality.
In lab report 2, the method of this study conducted an experiment in which a device was used. This was unlike Lab Report 1 when a survey was used. This was a sensor which monitored the sleep of the participant. The sample included participants who usually track their sleep with a monitor. The participants were asked to change their sleep positions over night.
In lab report 3, the method of this study also conducted an experiment. Similar to Lab Report 1 there was initially a survey conducted. However, after this survey the experiment was conducted which observed how the participants sleep over many nights based on their waking symptoms, such as cervical or lumbar pain. Similar to Lab Report 2, an experiment was conducted which measured sleep quality in different participants. However, in this experiment the participants were allocated based on their waking symptoms or were in the control group.
The discussion is meant to state and explain the findings of the lab report. In Lab report 1, the results of this lab report, show that participants who sleep in a side lying position were less likely to have waking symptoms and those who had slept in a supine position showed no major change. The participants with the most waking symptoms had slept in an upright position.
In lab report 2, the results of this lab report show that the quality of sleep in the participants was inversely proportional to the amount of times they were tossing and turning. It shows that the sleep position of the participants was also a factor of sleep quality as those who slept on their right side had a better quality of sleep. The results from best to worst sleep quality are right side, left side and supine position. This is similar to Lab Report 1 where sleep position has an affect on the quality.
In Lab report 3 In this discussion, the Control group had better sleep quality than the symptomatic groups. The conditions with lower sleep quality had more turning and posture change. This is similar to Lab Report 2 where both constant turning and posture were big factors in sleep quality. From all 3 lab reports we can see that position is a major factor of sleep quality.
The conclusion of a lab report is meant to make a statement about the report to discuss the findings. In Lab report 1 the conclusion says that sleeping on your right side lowers the chance of waking symptoms and high sleep quality ratings. This position is recommended as a sleep position of choice.
In Lab report 2, the conclusion says that it is unknown if sleep posture affects spinal pain. However, those in a condition of cervical pain had slept in uncomfortable sleep positions.
In lab report 3, there was a limitation section instead of conclusion for this lab report which states that the participant could have had specific first- night effects. This could have caused them to be anxious, stressed, and could have affected their sleep. However, this data recording the first- night was discarded.
The references of a lab report exist to show the sources of the information in a lab report. It is important to reference these different sources so that authors get credit for the information provided in the lab report. The references seem like they are in a good format as they include the last name of the first author, the name of the text and also the date. However they are not in the correct order as they are not in alphabetical order by last name.
The references in Lab report 2 were similar to Lab Report 1 as they shared a similar format. This format included the last name of the first author, the name of the text and also the date.
The references in Lab Report 3 share similarities with both Lab Report 1 and Lab Report 2 . The format of the references is similar to the other reports. The last name of the first author, the title, and date are used to cite sources. These sources are not however listed in alphabetical order.
The purpose of an appendix is to provide important details about the lab report. In lab report 1, the appendix includes the information about the format of the survey. This included personal information asked to the participant as well as questions asked about waking symptoms and medical history.
Lab report 2 had no appendix, unlike lab report 1. However, there were other acknowledgements made such as author contributions, funding, and informed consent.
In lab report 3, there is no appendix to this lab report. However the author contributions were listed similar to Lab Report 2.
In conclusion, all three lab reports have their strengths and weaknesses. Lab Reports 2 and 3 had the best titles as they gave the reader more of an insight on the study, by including what the study may look like and well as the relationship being studied. Lab report 1 effectively made the abstract easy to read by dividing the components into sections. The quality of the references are about the same for each lab report, as they use the correct format but fail to list the sources in the correct order. These lab reports share similarities and differences in the way they are written, which affects how the reader can view and understand the report.
References
Cary D, Jacques A, Briffa K (2021) Examining relationships between sleep posture, waking spinal symptoms and quality of sleep: A cross sectional study. PLoS ONE 16(11): e0260582. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260582
Gordon, S., Grimmer, K., & Trott, P. (2007). Sleep position, age, gender, sleep quality and waking Cervico-thoracic symptoms. Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice. https://doi.org/10.46743/1540-580x/2007.1134 Zhang, Y.; Xiao, A.; Zheng, T.; Xiao, H.; Huang, R. (2022). The Relationship between Sleeping Position and Sleep Quality: A Flexible Sensor-Based Study. Sensors , 22,6220. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22166220
