EAPP Module 15: Identifying Position Paper Parts PDF

APP 002 | ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES MODULE #15 4. Support These are evidence or ideas to substantiate the “Identifying the Parts of a Position reas...

APP 002 | ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES MODULE #15 4. Support These are evidence or ideas to substantiate the “Identifying the Parts of a Position reasons. Support may be classified into the Paper” following types: Position Paper Facts - figures and the writer’s own observations or shows people’s views and sentiments. reports from scholarly studies also called an argumentative paper or a manifesto. Comparisons - similarities or differentiation an essay that presents a person’s or group’s between two ideas, concepts, or situations position or stand on a particular issue. Examples - real-life demonstrations of an idea. The goal of writing a position paper 5. Opposing viewpoints or counter to convince the reader of the acceptability of the These are arguments that oppose. Your goal in writer’s position and it does so by presenting presenting these is to refute or discredit them, so rational support to a writer’s position through the that any opposition in the reader’s mind is dealt use of evidence and presenting counter-evidence to with. You refute by showing weaknesses in the or flaws in the arguments of the opposing position; counterargument. and using emotional appeals. MODULE #16 Uses of a Position Paper “ Summarizing and Used in any kind of situation in which there is a Paraphrasing Academic Texts” significant issue that needs to be addressed. Argument Parts of a Position Paper Explains why a claim is correct and believable. It is 1. Issue usually a generalization that is made on the basis An idea or question over which people are divided. of supporting evidence, such as facts, comparisons, It is also called a controversy. A topic is an issue if examples, and the writer’s experiences. people have different points of view on the matter. Different types of arguments according to Example: Exercise is good for the health and reasoning based on evidence: smoking is bad. 1. Argument form Transitivity Explains why a claim is correct and believable. It is 2. Thesis usually a generalization that is made on the basis Also called the claim. A statement that expresses of supporting evidence, such as facts, comparisons, your stand or position on an issue. This expresses examples, and the writer's experiences. how you feel about the issue: Are you in favor of or against it? Is your position somewhere in between? 3. Reasons A position paper seeks to persuade readers to have the same position on an issue as the writer does. Examples: Thus, it’s important for the writer to state the As an antioxidant, coffee is an anti-cancer reasons in order to explain to the reader why his or substance. her position is logical, acceptable, and believable. Bulldogs are canine; canines are good Another term for reasons is arguments. guards; therefore, Bulldogs are good guards. APP 002 | ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES 2. Argument form incompatibility This involves three terms associated through the process of classification. In this type of argument, two classification statements serve as premises which then serve as the basis for the argument, presented in the form of a conclusion as in A is B: B Examples: is C; thus, A is C. The RH Law will lead to the legalization of abortion in the Philippines. This was the Examples: case in Vietnam which enacted a similar law President X cannot be pro-education as he many years ago. claims to be. He reduced the education Student A passed the exam for he studied budget by half. the entire night. Student B also had studied She is not interested in English class as she for the exam the entire night, so most claims to be. She is always absent. probably he also passed the exam. 3. Argument from Reciprocity 5. Argument from Generalization This argument presents two contradictory choices, We use one member of a population to make such that the choice of one means the exclusion of conclusions about the entire population. the other. Thus, if A is something, it cannot be B; ifit is B, it cannot be A; for A and B cannot be Examples: combined - they are incompatible. My father smoked four packs of cigarettes a day since age fourteen and lived until age Examples: sixty-nine. Therefore, smoking really can’t A person who is born in the Philippines and who has be that bad for you. Filipino parents is classified as citizen of the Patrick is an unfaithful boyfriend. Therefore, Philippines. Such citizenship will give the person all boys are unfaithful. certain rights that can only be enjoyed by a Filipino. Now, if a foreigner goes through certain processes 6. Argument from Example and becomes a classified Filipino citizen, the This is similar to the argument from generalization argument from reciprocity says that this foreigner in that conclusions are made about an entire will population. The difference is that, instead of using now have the same privileges given to a Filipino, only one member as basis, in this argument you use such as voting and owning property here in the a group of examples-a sample-from that Philippines. All citizens of the Philippines have the population to serve as your basis. right to due process even alleged Filipino criminals. Examples: 4. Argument from Comparison Four out of five dentists recommend the This argument says that individuals and situations Happy Glossy Smiley toothpaste brand. that can be put together under the same category Therefore, it must be great. should be treated in the same way. Five of your teachers from SHS read for fun. Therefore, all the teachers in SHS read for This argues that two situations will have the same fun. outcome because of the similarities between these situations. Therefore, entity Y will have ‘D’ as well. 7. Argument from Cause Example: A large number of animals are going extinct and biodiversity is at threat, so DENR is APP 002 | ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES encouraging the government to make a 2.) False authority move in preserving endangered species. A type of false reasoning in which a person speaks as an expert on something on which he/she has no 8. Argument from Sign expertise. Examples: We may say that we have a fever Example: (condition) because our body temperature Tom Cruise says on TV that Billy Boy Butter is the reads 40°C (sign) best tasting butter there is. Tom Cruise is awesome The president may argue that the Philippine --especially in MI4 when he scaled that building economy is thriving (condition) because of with only one suction glove; therefore, Billy Boy increased GDP and foreign investments Butter is the best tasting butter there is. (sign). Tom Cruise might be awesome, and perhaps, he MODULE #17 really does think Billy Boy Butter is the best tasting butter there is, but Tom is not a sous chef neither a “Using Emotional Triggers in a Position culinarian; therefore, to accept the claim without Paper” any other evidence or reason is fallacious. Emotional Appeals 3.) Name calling or “ad hominem” a method of persuasion that is designed to create Uses labels with negative meanings to cast one’s an emotional response. Emotion (also known as opponent in a bad light. pathos or suffering in Greek) is one of the three modes of persuasion identified by Aristotle. The Example: other two are logos, or logic, and ethos, or A senator of the student council proposed that the authority. Emotional appeals are considered students should support the impeachment of the fallacies, or errors in reasoning, because they current SC president for the reason that he is a manipulate emotions in an audience but might playboy. become effective if done right especially in writing a position paper. The item above is an example of name calling because the senator used the label “playboy” to Types of Emotional Appeal paint the current SC president good image. Him being a playboy is completely irrelevant to the 1.) Appeal to common folk position that he holds. The students in the school Done by pointing out that a person is no different have no say about it because it is something from ordinary people, or that a product or idea is personal. Moreover, it does not affect his something that ordinary people would purchase or performance as the SC president of the school. support. 4.) Association Example: If we vote Student A as the president of Done by creating a link between one thing or idea our classroom, everything will be okay. Student A and another one that people have positive or came from a very poor family just like most of us, negative feelings for. so he can surely empathize with us. Example: The above item is an example of appeal to folk Mercurious Shoes is all about success and sharing because one convinces the students to vote for your success with other people. Student A for the sole reason that he came from a poor family just like the majority in the classroom. However, this characteristic does not really give an assurance that Student A can lead his classmates. APP 002 | ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES It is an example of association because the item though you have already done this above connects the shoe brand to an ideal concept research. (success) and uses this as a marketing strategy. - Example: The present research examined the relationships between MODULE #18 X and Y. This will save editing later “ Writing an Introduction of on. - Explain what variables you looked at a Survey Report” and generally what you did to look Survey Report at them (e g. administered a survey!) Survey is a data collection method that - This short paragraph is where you involves asking a selected group of people narrow your paper to your very questions. specific topic. Survey report is an objective and systematic written presentation of the goals Survey Report and findings of a survey. - A kind of research that requires selecting a sample people/group to answer questions. 1. Introduction - Conclusion will then be drawn from the Introduce your survey report by presenting result of the survey. Thus, we can say that the reason for conducting your survey and this kind of research is an objective and your objectives. Make sure to cite any systematic written presentation of the goals information taken from the source. and findings of a survey. Guidelines When Writing an Introduction 1.) In writing your survey report, you need to 1. Try to capture the readers’ interest right introduce first the reason for conducting your away. survey. Thus, you need to: - Pose an interesting question. - ask yourself first if what are the things that - In this opening paragraph, do NOT you want to find out in your survey. use jargon. - Upon stating the reason for the survey, one is also given the challenge to establish well 2. Introduce the relevant literature. the background of the reason. Stating the - Discuss previous literature that can reason of the survey alone is not enough. speak to your question. - A good researcher must also present - Conceptually define all your terms previous studies or facts that has led them when you first introduce them. to explore a particular question. - Discuss findings or theories that are - This will give your reader an idea that the relevant to your question. reason of your survey is logical and not just - This will be the longest section of the something that came from thin air. introduction. - The background of the study is as important - You should organize this section of as its reason. your paper in a way that you logically build to your study. 3. Introduce the present study. - The reader should have been able to predict you were going to examine the variables you discuss here from the reasoning you laid out in #2. Go ahead and use the past tense as APP 002 | ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES MODULE #19 - behaviors - practices. “Describing the Respondents and Survey Instrument” 3. Decide the appropriate population to be studied/questioned - What is the appropriate population (group of people/ subjects) to be studied or questioned? - Should a census or sampling be used? - For whom do the results apply? 4. Choose measurement scale and scoring - Use scales that provide the information needed and are appropriate for respondents. Some choices are: Guidelines for the Procedure: Fixed-response 1. Determine the purpose - Yes-No Questionnaires are used for survey - True-False research, to determine the current status or - Multiple Choice "situation." They are also used to measure - Agree-Disagree the difference in status "before" and "after" to determine changes that may be 5. Title the questionnaire attributed to an educational program. - This will let the respondent know Before creating a questionnaire, start by what it’s about. asking yourself a few important questions: - Purpose of the study (one sentence - What do I need to know? or phrase). - Why do I need to know it? - Consider including a simple graphic - What will happen as a result of this that depicts the purpose of the questionnaire? evaluation or program. - Can I get the information from existing sources instead of Field Report Procedure conducting a survey? This section of the report consists of descriptions of procedures involved in the survey. It is divided into 2. Decide what you are measuring three parts - This should be based on the objectives of your educational 1.) Description of the respondents program and the evaluation of its Here you give a concise description of the outcomes and impact. Consider characteristics of the population/sample which of the following you are population such as average age, nationality, aiming to measure: gender, etc. (any other description that is helpful in - attitude your study). - knowledge - goals Also, you have to state the number of the - intentions respondents as well as the criteria used in selecting - aspirations the respondents. The criteria for selection should be APP 002 | ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES clearly stated in this section for it will tell your In making a survey instrument, it is important that readers that your respondents were not just a you consider the group of people/subject that is product of random selection; but instead picked going to be the participant of the study. Also, you using the criteria making them a valid source of need to decide if you are going to do a census-- information. treat the entire population as participants of your survey; or sampling-- treat a large enough subset 2.) Description of the survey instrument of subjects as participants of your survey. Put in Here you provide a description of your survey mind that if a large enough random sample is instrument may it be survey questionnaire, mobile taken, the results can be statistically similar to application app, etc. Also, you need to state taking a census of an entire population - with whether the survey instrument was adapted from reduced effort and cost. previous researches; adapted, but modified to fit for the context of your study; or developed/created (4.) Choose measurement scale and scoring- by you. If you have tested the survey instrument There are a wide variety of response options for manageability and validity, you can also include available to you. The response option you choose, the description of that event in this section. however, should always be based on the objectives of the question and survey. Below is a list of Moreover, the number of questions and kind of common response options and things to consider questions (yes-no, true-false, multiple choice, scale, when using them in your survey. etc.) in the survey instrument should also be written in this section. If you are not sure about the number Fixed-response: of samples you need you to have in order for the Yes-No results of your survey to be valid. Mention as well True-False the amount of time it took for respondents to Multiple Choice answer the entire survey instrument. If you are Rating Scale/Continuum (such as a Likert-type planning on making your own questionnaire/survey scale) instrument, consider the following: Agree-Disagree Rank ordering (1.) Determine the purpose- In making your questionnaire, put in mind the Open-ended (narrative response) objective of your survey report so that you will not be overwhelmed with the range of questions that (5.) Title the questionnaire you can ask to your respondents. Going back to the The title of the survey instrument will give an idea purpose of your survey will help you focus on to the respondents what the questionnaire is all creating questions that have relevance to your about. This will help in setting the minds of the study and will lead in the achievement of your respondents before answering the questions. Also, objective as well. giving title to the questionnaire will somehow give directions to the respondents on how they are (2.) Decide what you are measuring- expected to answer the questionnaire. To test if you After you have determined the objectives of the have really understood today’s lesson, I want you study, it is also important to identify what you are to identify the procedure section of the sample measuring. Identifying what you are measuring will survey report. Focus only on the first two parts give you an idea as to what kind of questions which are the description of the respondents and should be asked. description of the survey instrument. Observe as well how the researcher has presented his/per (3.) Decide the appropriate population to be procedure. studied/questioned-