Lab Report 1: How Many Data Points

Human beings are creatures of habit

We often seek stability and continuity and are wary of change. However, inspection, evaluation, and subsequent change are often necessary for growth and improvement, both inside and outside the laboratory. A worthy project for your laboratory to undertake this year may be to evaluate your pipette checking routine. One important element of the procedure is the number of data points that are taken for each pipette at each volume setting. Since the needs of each laboratory vary widely, it is difficult to give a universal answer to the question. If your laboratory can tolerate a high margin of error, then you can afford to take fewer data points. As your demand for excellence increases, so does your number of data points.