How to Write a Position Paper

• Position papers are academic writings where the writer researches a topic and explains their stand or viewpoint.
• Position papers give arguments supporting the writer's opinion based on collected facts.
• The goal of a position paper is to convince the audience that the opinion was thoroughly investigated and data was collected, making it valid.

Steps to Write a Position Paper

• Choose a topic.
• Conduct research.
• Challenge your own topic.
• Collect supporting evidence.
• Create an outline.

General Guidelines for Position Papers

• Use evidence to support your position.
• Validate your position with authoritative references or primary source quotations.
• Examine the strengths and weaknesses of your position.
• Evaluate possible solutions and suggest courses of action.

Elements of a Position Paper

• Introduction: Begins with an attention-grabbing hook, provides background information to help the reader understand the issue, and includes a thesis statement stating the writer's stand and argument.
• Body: Illustrates the central argument with brief explanations.
• Conclusion: Summarizes the main concepts and ideas, suggests courses of action, and provides possible solutions.

Survey Questionnaires

• A survey is a general view, examination, or description of something, also referring to carefully assessing someone or something.
• A survey questionnaire is a series of questions designed to gather information from respondents related to a research question.

Qualities of a Good Questionnaire

• Valid: Asks what it intends to ask.
• Reliable: Yields consistent results by providing the same answer if the same question is posed repeatedly in a short time.
• Clear: Easily understood.
• Interesting: Completed by respondents and gets a better response rate.

Creating a Survey Questionnaire

• Design: Ask the right questions, use an appropriate format, arrange questions logically, and make instructions clear.
• Test: Conduct pilot testing to detect flaws.
• Revise: Make necessary changes and improve the questionnaires.

Basics in Question Wording

• Use both open-ended and closed-ended questions appropriately.
• Closed-Ended Questions: Provides options to the respondents, asking them to choose one or more items from a list.
• Open-Ended Questions: Lets respondents express their opinions freely without restrictions, used when answer options are multiple and unknown.

What to Avoid in Questionnaires

• Avoid questions that are threatening and try to evoke the truth, thus a the answer might not be truthful
• Avoid ambiguity and vague words.
• Avoid double-barreled questions that ask two questions, impose unwarranted assumptions, or contain hidden contingencies.
• Avoid loaded or assumptive questions containing assumptions about a respondent's habits or perceptions.
• Avoid leading questions that prompt or encourage the desired answer.
• Avoid double negatives, which occur when two negatives are used in the same sentence.
• Avoid biased survey questionnaires that skew people towards a certain answer through phrasing or formatting.

Additional Considerations for Surveys

• Use appropriate format with a highlighted title reflecting the research objective.
• Divide the questionnaire into content sections with boxes and bold headings, ensuring smooth flow.
• Arrange questions logically, starting with simple questions and moving to more complex ones, with demographic profiles at the beginning.
• Make instructions clear and provide introductory comments to help respondents understand and answer the questions.

Testing and Revision

• Pilot Test: A rehearsal allowing testing the research approach with a small number of test participants to detect flaws in content, grammar, and format.
• Revise: Evaluate for general content, organization, and tone by adding, deleting, and organizing information.
• When revising, consider the audience, objectives, inclusion of adequate information, word choice, and avoidance of wordiness, repetition, or inconsistency.