EAPP 4TH QUARTER REVIEWER you in favor of or against it?
Is your position
Position Paper
• Presents the writer’s stand or viewpoint on a
particular issue.
• is used to present ideas and opinions based
on observed event or situation.
• A position paper, also called an
argumentative paper or a manifesto, is an
essay that presents a person’s or group’s
position or stand on a particular issue. Its goal
is to convince the reader of the acceptability
of the writer’s position.
Argument
• is essentially your main point or thesis
statement that you use to convince your
audience that your position is valid and
persuasive.
Counterargument
• It expresses the view of a person who
disagrees with your position (Oldham).
Parts of Position Paper
Introduction
• Start with an introduction which presents the
issue while grabbing the attention of the
readers.
• Define the issue and discuss its background.
• Provide a general statement of your position
via thesis statement.
Body
• State your main arguments.
• Provide sufficient evidence for each
argument such as statistical data, interviews
with experts, and testimonies.
• Provide counter-arguments against the
possible weaknesses of your arguments.
Conclusion
▪ Restate your position and main arguments.
▪ Suggest a course of action.
▪ State what makes your position superior and
more acceptable.
▪ End with a powerful statement such as
quotation, a challenge, or a question
According to McWhorter (2001) a position paper
contains the following elements:
a. Issue. It is an idea or question which people are
divided; it’s also called a controversy. This means
people have different points of view on the matter.
Some ideas are not debatable –people have the
same views about it.
b. Thesis. Your thesis, also called the claim, is a
statement that expresses your stand or position on an
issue. This expresses how you feel about an issue: are
somewhere in between?
c. Reasons. A position paper seeks to persuade
readers to have the same position on an issue as the
writer does. Thus, it’s important for the writer to state
the reasons in order to explain to the reader why his
or her position is logical, acceptable, and
believable.
d. Support. It refers to evidence or ideas to
substantiate the reasons. Support may be classified
into the following types:
Facts – figures and the writer’s own observation or
reports for scholarly studies
Examples – real-life demonstrations of an idea
Opinions – the author’s feelings or generalizations
Opposing viewpoints or counterarguments –
Opposing viewpoints, also known as
counterarguments, give the arguments opposing
your stand.
Kinds Of Position Paper
There are four general kinds of position papers, and
each has its own type of objective.
1. Expositive Writing
It consists of summarizing or setting out the ideas of a
given philosopher in your own words in order to help
your reader to understand material that is otherwise
obscure or hard to follow.
2. Comparative Writing
As with expositive writing, it usually requires you to
summarizing or setting out the arguments and
positions in your own words. It will also require you to
defend your claims of commonality and difference.
3. Evaluative Writing
It is a kind of writing which specifies our points or
position against a certain stand or writing. We
develop such when a position seems to contradict
what we know, or if we can find a case which seems
to contradict the position presented.
4. Constructive Writing
It is considered to be less directly concerned with
pre-existing positions or argument. As we make a
stand or defend a position of our own, it usually
involves an analysis and evaluation of particularly
relevant and influential work in order to clarify or
advance our own position, carefully supporting our
position with argument, and responding to actual or
potential objections.
Uses of Position Paper
Position Papers are written to achieve a number of
purposes, which include but are not limited to the
following:
1. Political – adherence or non-adherence to a
political party, government program, etc.
2. Artistic – creation or abolition of an artistic
movement.
3. Scientific – acceptance or non-acceptance of a
scientific theory
4. Educational – conformity or non-conformity with
educational reforms
Kinds Of Report
PURPOSES OF REPORTS
1. To inform the reader regarding a particular
subject.
2. To serve as a basis for decision-making.
3. To persuade the reader to take an action.
Two Basic Categories of Report
KINDS OF FORMAL REPORTS
1. Survey Report
– objectively presents information gathered from a
survey
2. Laboratory/Scientific Technical Report
– exhibits findings or results of experiments. includes a
thorough discussion of the materials, methods of
experimentation used and discussion of the result
3. Field Report
– contains significant observations and analysis of a
person, place or an event
4. Research Report
– is an expanded paper that presents the results and
interpretation of a phenomenon
– produced through formal investigation and
scientific inquiry. Structure/ Parts of a Research
Report
a. Title Page
- includes the informative title, name of author/s and
addresses or affiliation, and date when it is submitted
b. Abstract
- briefly presents the context of the study, research
questions or objectives, methodology, major
findings, conclusions, and sometimes implications,
with minimal number of citations and statistical data
- ranges from 100-250 words
c. Introduction
- explains the current state of the field of discipline,
puts the research topic in context, and presents a
clear statement of the purpose and significance of
the study
- usually consists of 3 to 5 paragraphs
d. Literature Review
- provides a critical analysis and synthesis of the
existing research and scholarship relevant to the
research question or problem.
- it is divided into two sections: the related concepts
and related studies
Related concepts
- explain some of the fundamental concepts and
theories needed by the readers to better understand
the study.
Related studies
- are based on previously conducted studies relevant
to the paper
- This section ends with a paragraph that synthesizes
all of the studies presented and puts the study in
context.
- Its length varies
e. Methodology
- describes the research design, methods, and
procedures
- It should include information on the sample or
participants, data collection instruments, data
collection procedures, and data analysis
techniques.
f. Results
- factually describe the data gathered
- usually contain tables, graphs, and figures that
summarize the collected data
g. Discussion
- interprets the results of the study and explains their
significance or relevance to the research question or
problem
- also compares the current findings with those of
previous studies
- identify the implications for future research or
practice
h. Conclusion
- summarizes the key findings of the study and
restates the main argument or thesis presented in the
introduction
- also presents the limitations of the study,
recommendations, and implications.
i. References
- list all the sources cited in the study, following a
specific citation style
KINDS OF INFORMAL REPORTS
1. Meeting Minutes - are written records of a
meeting or hearing
2. Memorandum – a short written report
prepared specially for a person or group of
people that contains information about a
particular matter
3. Expense Report – contains a categorized and
itemized list of expenses that were made on
behalf of a person or an organization
QUESTIONNAIRE AND SURVEY
Questionnaire – is a structured series of questions
designed to collect primary data from respondents.
Questionnaires are the most common instrument
used in research.
They can be used to assess:
- Attitudes
- Opinions
- Interests
- Values
A survey is data collection through a set of
questions for the purposes of statistical analysis.
HOW TO DESIGN A QUESTIONNAIRE?
1. Write short and simple questions
2. Avoid leading questions
3. Ask close-ended questions
4. Question Clarity, avoid vagueness and ambiguity
5. Don’t use double-barreled questions
TYPES OF QUESTIONS AND ITS USAGE
1. OPEN ENDED
• Breaking the ice in an interview
• When respondent’s own words are important
• When the researcher does not know all the
possible answers
2. CLOSE ENDED
• Collecting rank ordered data.
• When all response choices are known
• When quantitative statistical tool results are
desired
OTHER TYPES OF CLOSE ENDED QUESTIONNAIRES
1. LIKERT SCALE
• Assessing a person’s opinion and feelings
about something
2. RATING SCALE
• Rate things in relation to other things
3. MULTIPLE SCALE
• When there are finite number of options.
4. RANKING QUESTIONS
• Ordering answer choices by way of
preference.
• This allows you to not only understand how
respondents feel about each answer option,
but it also helps you understand each one’s
relative popularity.
5. DICHOTOMOUS QUESTION
• Is a question that can have two possible
answers. Dichotomous questions are usually
used in a survey that asks for a Yes/No,
True/False, Fair/Unfair or Agree/Disagree
answers.
Research Methodology
A Survey
- contains planned questions which are used to
measure attitudes, perceptions,
and opinions.
- It contains responses directly related to each
specific research question.
TONE AND LANGUAGE IN INTRODUCTIONS
AND LETTERS:
1. Where possible, have the most legitimate
authority figure available sponsor the survey and
sign all of the correspondence.
2. Use a professional tone, a scholarly approach,
and a business format for all survey
correspondence.
3. Write so as to demonstrate respect for
participants’ time and regard for their opinions.
4. Set forth in very clear and concise language the
purpose of the research and use of the information
being collected.
5. Assure participants of their Confidentiality or
Anonymity (whichever applies).
6. Be sure to clearly delineate how their voluntary
participation in this survey can benefit others (the
entity, the profession, or society).
7. Stress the unique and limited opportunity that the
survey provides them to affect decisions, policies,
procedures, etc.
8. Communicate the timeframes for data collection,
analysis, and reporting.
An Interview…
- an instrument that allows the researcher to
qualitatively gather data.
- The purpose of an interview is to study the
experiences, views, or belief of an individual on a
specific subject or topic.
1. Pre-interview stage
- It is when an interview guide is prepared and
respondents are identified and conducted.
2. Warm-up stage
- It is the initial part of the interview when questions
that will make respondents more at ease are asked.
3. Main interview stage
- It is when the main questions directly related to the
research questions are asked.
4. Closing Stage
- It is when questions are asked to wind down the
interview and respondents are acknowledged and
thanked.
Types of Interview:
1. Structured Interview
- are kind of verbally presented questionnaires.
2. Unstructured Interviews
- On the other hand, unstructured interviews are
conducted with a little or no preparation.
3. Semi-structured Interviews
- are a combination of both structured and
unstructured interviews such as, a researcher will
come up with a list of questions to be asked in the
interview, but he can also ask follow-up questions to
get deeper detail or explanation from the
respondent on the basis of his response.
An Observation
- allows the description of behavior in a naturalistic or
laboratory setting.
- most useful when the answers to research questions
require description of behavior and setting and when
the respondents cannot literally answer interview
questions and questionnaires for some valid reasons
such as inability to speak and write infants.
Techniques in Recording Observations
(The Writing Guide of The University of Southern
California (2017)
a. Note taking - the easiest method of recording
observations.
b. Taking photographs - one benefit of technology is
making records of objects, events, and people
easier, although a series of pictures can only serve as
supplements to the rest of the sources of your
interpretations.
c. Recording videos and audios - the advantage of
using these records is that it allows repeated analysis
of the observations: however, "these techniques
have the negative effect of increasing how intrusive
you are as an observer and will often be impractical
or disallowed under certain circumstances [e.g..
interaction between a doctor and a patient] and in
certain organizational settings [e.g. a courtroom]“
d. Preparing illustrations - this may prove useful in
drawing maps of the setting or illustrating objects,
tables, graphs representing the documentations of
what you have observed.
An Experiment
- a procedure undertaken scientifically and
systematically to make a discovery and to test a
hypothesis.
An experiment can be performed in a laboratory or
in a natural setting following these steps:
1. Make observations.
2. Develop the hypothesis.
3. Design the experiment.
4.Conduct the experiment. Replicate the experiment
to ensure the reliability of the result.
5. Analyze the results.
6.Decide on whether to accept or reject the
hypothesis based on the results
Visual and Graphic Aids
Information in reports can only be elucidated
narratively. It can also be illustrated visually. In
summarizing the results of a survey, an interview, an
observation or an experiment, visual graphics can be
utilized.
Common Techniques in Displaying Data Results
1. Textual
- uses words, statements or paragraphs with
numerals, numbers, or measurements to describe
data.
- can be used to compare data using paragraphs for
the discussion.
2. Tabular
- presents data clearly using a table
- must have the following parts
A. Table number and title. These are placed above
the table. The title is usually written right after the
table number.
B. Caption subhead - This refers to columns and rows.
C. Body - It contains all the data under each
subhead
D. Source – It indicates if the data is secondary and it
should be acknowledged
3. Graphical
- portrays the visual presentation of data using
symbols such as lines, dots, bars or slices
- depicts the trend of a certain set of measurements
- shows comparison between two or more sets of
data or quantities
Guidelines in Preparing Visual Graphics
Determine your purpose and audience/reader.
Ensure the accuracy and reliability of data
Plan and organize your visual in an orderly, easy-to-
follow and clear manner
Effective visuals are coherent and self-explanatory
Designs and colors should be pleasing to the eyes
and adds clarity to the visual
When to use which type of Graphics?
1. LINE GRAPHS – shows changes or trends over a
period of time
2. BAR GRAPH – shows how each data can be
classified into different categories
3. PIE CHART/GRAPH – shows how each part of
something is related to the whole
4. FLOW CHART – shows stages in a process or a
procedure