A.

Definition of a Position Paper • Problem-Solution Position Paper: This type of

position paper identifies a problem and presents a
A position paper presents an author's critical
solution to it.
opinion, claim, or viewpoint about an issue.
• Comparative Position Paper: This type of position
• It aims to persuade the readers to believe in and
paper compares and contrasts two or more options,
take a side by providing arguments and reasons that
policies, or proposals.
support the position.
• Historical Position Paper: This type of position
• It presents counterarguments, and at the end,
paper examines a historical event, policy, or
refutes these opposing viewpoints or
perspective and presents an argument based on the
counterarguments to strengthen the paper's claim.
analysis of the historical context.
B. Uses of a Position Paper
• Interpretive Position Paper: This type of position
The skill of argumentation enables an individual to paper provides an interpretation or analysis of a
express his/ her critical opinion and to persuade particular issue, policy, or proposal.
others to believe in or buy into his/ her idea or
• Policy Position Paper: This type of position paper
cause.
outlines a specific policy proposal and presents an
C. Parts of a Position Paper argument in support of it.

A position paper contains the following parts: • Value Position Paper: This type of position paper
argues for or against a particular set of values.
1. The issue is presented in the introduction. This is
the problem, controversy, the arguable point of the • Predictive Position Paper: This type of position
position paper. paper makes predictions about future events or
trends and presents an argument for why those
2. From these issues, develop a claim or position predictions are likely to come true.
that states your opinion, understanding, and
standpoint.
C. Parts of a Position Paper
3. To prove and support the claim or position,
arguments are given to serve as evidence. This part
provides the reasons why your understanding of the
issue is better.
4. It is also important to present opposing
viewpoints or counterarguments to make the
position paper sound unbiased. This should further
strengthen the position.
D. Types of Position Paper
• Advocacy Position Paper: This type of position
paper presents an argument in support of a F. Writing Principles and Techniques for a Position
particular issue, policy, or proposal. Paper
• Counter-Argument Position Paper: This type of 1. Stating the Claim: Three Kinds of Claims
position paper presents an argument against a
particular issue, policy, or proposal. • In writing a position paper, take a stand and
express your critical opinion as you state your
claims.
• Claims are defined by Barnet, Bellanca, and abolished, or altered. These statements or
Stubbs as "assertions of whether something is true, questions should, are usually recognized by
right, or good." words such as must, and ought.
A. Claims of Fact are propositions or assertions Claim of Policy Examples:
about whether something is true based on
• "The government should implement stricter
cause and effect, correlation, probability, and
regulations on plastic use to reduce environmental
states of affairs. These assertions have to be
pollution.“
proven by facts and data
• "Schools must integrate mental health programs
into their curriculum to support students' well-
being.“
Claim of Fact Examples: • "All countries should invest more in renewable
energy to combat climate change.“
• Global temperatures have risen by an average of
1.2°C since the late 19th century. • "The minimum wage should be increased to
provide a livable income for workers.“
• The Philippines experiences an average of 20
typhoons per year. • "Universities ought to lower tuition fees to make
higher education more accessible."
• The human brain stops growing after the age of
25. 2. Presenting Arguments: Two Kinds of Logical
Reasoning
• Smoking causes lung cancer in a significant
percentage of long-term smokers. Although many rhetorical or persuasive strategies
can be used in argumentation, logical reasoning is
• Online learning during the pandemic resulted in
one most commonly used as it relies on appealing to
lower academic performance for many students
intelligence and providing credible evidence.
B. Claims of Value are assertions of whether
A. Inductive reasoning is done by starting from
something is right or wrong, good or bad, or
specific to general.
better or worse than something else. These
are usually based on taste and morality • Drawing from the examples and representations in
the conclusion of the generalization would serve as
Claim of Value Examples:
the paper's argument or reason.
• "Climate change is the most urgent environmental
B. Deductive reasoning is the opposite of
issue facing the world today.“
inductive reasoning whereby general
• "Using renewable energy is better for the statements or premises are given first
environment than relying on fossil fuels.“ followed by a specific case or application
that states the paper's argument or reason.
• "Distance learning during the pandemic was less
effective than traditional face-to-face instruction.“ 3. Providing Evidence: Three Kinds of Evidence

• "Public transportation is a more ethical choice A. Examples are provided using specific instances
than driving personal vehicles because it reduces to illustrate a point.
pollution.“
• Different subtypes may be used, such as giving
• "Art education is crucial for developing creativity real examples or instances that in reality exist and
and critical thinking in students." occur.

C. Claims of Policy are assertions of whether a b. Testimonies are another form of evidence in
policy, law, or custom should be adopted, which people who are experts and
 authorities in a certain field are quoted for Stage 2 : Developing your Claim and Generating
their knowledge, opinions, works, etc. Ideas
• Ensure that the expert is credible in the given A. Write a paragraph explaining your understanding
context or field and that his/her ideas and works are of the issue.
relevant to support the argument.
B. Brainstorm about the issue by writing some
C. Statistical data are another set of evidence arguments you know for opposing claims or
that may be proven useful and effective as positions
these are backed up by research that has
C. Verify what you know about the issue and
undergone careful study and analysis.
develop your argument through research.
• Ensure that the research or statistics being used
Note: Remember to use credible sources and to
would really justify and prove the argument.
responsibly cite your sources
G. Writing the Position Paper
H. Draft: Step 1 Observing Useful Language
Stage 1: Identifying and researching about the topic Structure
The topic of a position paper is rooted in issues, Recognizing and conceding differing views and
defined as "arguable points" that arise because opposing positions
individuals have different understandings and
Useful words and phrases: signal words and phrases
opinions about matters
• admittedly, although it may be true, despite the
fact, granted, of course, he/she is right to say
To decide on the topic of your position paper,
Stating the claim by way of qualifying and limiting
consider the following questions that will help you
it Useful words and phrases: Qualifiers
narrow down your topic:
• frequently, in many cases, likely, may, might,
• What subjects interest you as a writer?
maybe, often, probably, perhaps, usually
• Who will your audience be?
• What do you think will interest your readers?
• What information can you find regarding your
H. Draft: Step 2 Writing the Draft
subject?
Be mindful of the organization of your position
An annotated bibliography is a list of citations of
paper. Keep in mind the essential components of
research sources, which includes a summary of
your paper. • You must have a clear statement of
information cited from each source. Through the
your position or claim questioning or supporting a
summary, the researcher and the reader can evaluate
fact, a value, or a policy.
the relevance and accuracy of the sources used
• You have to support your claim with arguments
Stage 2:Developing your Claim and Generating
that may be stated inductively and deductively.
Ideas
Argumentation: Affirmation vs Dissention
• From the topic or issue of your paper, develop a
claim or position that states your opinion, Affirmation and Dissention are two fundamental
preference, understanding, and standpoint. strategies used in academic writing to present
arguments.
• This claim becomes the thesis or main point of the
position paper that should be proven using Affirmation - supporting a claim or thesis with
arguments and pieces of evidence evidence.
Dissention - challenging or refuting a claim. Identifying weaknesses in arguments - Pointing out
flaws in the logic, evidence, or assumptions of
Affirmation: Supporting Your Claims
opposing viewpoints.
Affirmation is the process of providing evidence to
Presenting counterarguments - Offering alternative
support your claims. This can involve:
perspectives or explanations that contradict the
• Citing authoritative sources claims of others

• Presenting data and statistics Questioning the credibility of sources - Challenging

the reliability or objectivity of the sources used to
• Offering logical reasoning support opposing claims
• Providing anecdotes and examples Dissention: Challenging Others' Claims
Citing authoritative sources - Referencing experts, Claim: Vaccines are harmful to children and cause
scholars, or research studies to lend credibility to autism.
your arguments.
Dissention: Citing numerous studies that have
Presenting data and statistics - Using numerical debunked the link between vaccines and autism and
evidence to illustrate your points and make your highlighting the methodological flaws in the
claims more concrete. original research that claimed a connection.
Offering logical reasoning - Using deductive or
inductive reasoning to connect your evidence to
your claims.
• Deductive - general premises to form a specific
conclusion
• Inductive - specific premises and forming a
general conclusion
Providing anecdotes and examples - Using personal
experiences or illustrative cases to make your
arguments more relatable and engaging
Affirmation: Supporting Your Claims
Claim: Climate change is primarily caused by
human activities
Affirmation: Citing studies from the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
that attribute most global warming to human-
induced greenhouse gas emissions.
Dissention: Challenging Others' Claims
Dissention involves challenging or refuting the
claims of others. This can involve:
• Identifying weaknesses in arguments
• Presenting counterarguments
• Questioning the credibility of sources
 Which typically represents a specific attribute or  Which basic data presentation tool is best to use in
category of data? Sales figures for different products?
Answer: COLUMNS Answer: Bar Graphs

 Which basic data presentation tool is best to use in  Why are Frequency Tables Important?
examining the relationship between two variables? (To understand the distribution of data, To identify
Answer: Scatterplots trends/patterns, To interpret large amounts of
information)
 Bar graphs can be used for a variety of data types.
Answer: True The Logical Fallacies and its Types
VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
 A scatter plot is used to show the relationship
between two categorical variables. •Stand – Viewpoint perspective •Claims statements
Answer: False of the author– these that support or are author’s the
 Data visualization tools are only used for large sets
stand; ARGUMENT
of data. VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
Answer: False
•Evidences – these are proofs evidences to
 Which basic data presentation tool is best to use in strengthen or author’s
presenting continuous data with adjacent bars
touching each other, indicating the continuous nature •Fallacy – an error the in reasoning which weakens
of the data? an argument.
Answer: Histogram
VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
 Which typically represents a single record or data •Counterclaims arguments– opposing a particular
point? stand
Answer: ROWS
What are Logical Fallacies?
 Which is not a general part of a graph?
• Logical Fallacies are errors in reasoning that
Answer: None of the above
invalidate an argument.
 What do you call the imaginary trendline in
• A logical fallacy is an argument may sound
scatterplots?
Answer: Line of best fit
convincing or true flawed .

 Frequency tables can be visualized using bar charts, • Logical fallacies are leaps that but is of logic that
histograms, or pie charts to make the data more lead us to an unsupported conclusion.
understandable and visually appealing. •A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning that
Answer: TRUE occurs when invalid irrelevant arguments or
 Which statement is false? introduced points without are evidence any to
Answer: The X-axis is numerical values. (This is false support them.
because the X-axis can also represent non-numerical Pitfall of Logical Fallacies
values, depending on the context.)
•People may unintentionally commit a logical
 What is the maximum slice in Pie charts?
fallacy due to poor reasoning or intentionally
Answer: 10
manipulating others. or order to
 Which basic data presentation tool is best to use in
•People often resort to logical fallacies when their
analyzing the relationship between a pair of
goal persuade is others.
categorical data?
Answer: Contingency Tables Different Types of Logical Fallacy
 1. Slippery Slope (Domino Fallacy) • Occurs •Utilization of widespread acceptance about a
when a series of increasingly superficial and topic as rationale for its truthfulness.
consequences is drawn. unacceptable
Examples
• One thing will inevitably lead to another
• “You should join this club; everyone in our
Examples No.
class is a member.”
• “If students are allowed to use calculators in
• “Everyone else is skipping assignment, so it’s
class, soon they’ll rely on them for everything, and
okay if I do it too.”
eventually, they won’t even know basic math.”
5. Attacking the Person (Ad Hominem)
• “If we let one student turn in their homework late,
• Occurs when someone tries to refute an
soon everyone will start ignoring deadlines, and no
argument by attacking the character of a
one will meet any expectations in school.”
person instead of attacking the ideas of the
Different Types of Logical Fallacy argument.
• Refers to discrediting an argument for the
2. Appeal to Force (Ad Baculum)
reason that those who support the argument
• Occurs when a threat, instead of reasoning
have bad character traits.
is used to argue.
Examples
• An arguer appeals to force or to the threat
• “You can’t trust her opinion on the project;
of force to make someone accept a
she’s always been unreliable.”
conclusion.
• “Why should we listen to his argument
Examples about healthy eating? He doesn’t even
exercise.”
• “You should support this project, or you’ll lose
your place on the team.” 6. Appeal to Authority (Ab Auctoritate)
• “If you don’t follow my instructions, I’ll make • Occurs when the argument quotes an expert
sure you fail this course.” who’s not qualified in the particular subject
Different Types of Logical matter.

3. Appeal to Pity (Ad Misericordiam) • Occurs when you believe that a claim is true
• Occurs when the element of pity is used simply because an authority figure made it.
instead of logical reasoning. Examples
• Occurs when someone attempts to • “My favorite actor says this diet works, so it
persuade others by provoking feelings of must be effective
guilt or pity.
• “A famous musician endorses this brand of
Examples vitamins, so they must be the best ones to take.”
• “Please give me a passing grade— I’ve been so 7. Hasty Generalization (Secundum Quid)
stressed and busy with other responsibilities.”
• Occurs when a sample is not significant
• “You can’t fire me; I have a family to support and enough to support a generalization about a
bills to pay.” population.
Different Types of Logical Fallacy • Refers to situations where you come to
4. Bandwagon (Ad Populum) generalized conclusions from a specific instance
or dataset that is too small.
•Occurs when an argument is considered to be
valid because it is what the majority thinks. Examples
• “I met two students from that school who were •Person A: “We need to discuss the budget
rude; therefore, all students from that school cuts for education.”
must be rude.” •Person B: “But what about the problems
with the healthcare system?”
:• “My first two flights were delayed, so all
flights are always late.”
•Person A: “Why were you late to group
8. Post Hoc (Faulty Causality) (post hoc, meeting?”
ergo propter hoc) •Person B: “Did you know that another
• It is an informal fallacy that states: “Since group finished their project already?”
event A followed event B, event A must have
been caused by event B.”
• It is the assumption that because one event
preceded another event, they must be Different Types of Report
causally related. In other words, the first Reports are key communication tools in business;
event must have caused the second. they often become part of an organization’s archives
Examples so that current and future employees can see the
• “I wore my lucky shirt, and we won the research, information, and reasoning underlying
game. Therefore, my shirt made us win.” certain issues, actions, and decisions.
• “Right after we implemented the new rule,
sales increased. So, the new rule must be the • Reports may be formal or informal, informative or
reason for the higher sales.” analytical.
9. Straw Man • They may be intended to provide updates,
• Occurs when the position of the opposition influence action, provide information, and/or offer
is twisted so that it is easier to refute. different perspectives important in an organization’s
• It is the distortion of someone else’s discussion of an issue.
argument to make it easier to attack or
refute. Instead of addressing the actual • At some point in your career, you most likely will
argument of the opponent, one may present need to write a report related to some aspect of your
a somewhat similar but not equal argument. work.
Example Purposes of a Report
•Person A: “We should have some
guidelines for screen time.” 1.To Inform
•Person B: “So you think we should ban all 2.To Analyze
technology and live like it’s the Stone Age?”
The Different Types of Report
• Person A: “I think we should spend more
Periodic Report
money on education.”
• Person B: “So you’re saying we should • This type of report is submitted regularly (e.g.,
stop funding healthcare and other important weekly, monthly, quarterly) and provides a broad
services?” overview of ongoing activities, operations, or data
10. Red Herring (Ignoratio Elenchi) over a set period.
• Occurs when someone distracts from the
• It may cover multiple projects or areas and is more
argument or otherwise distorts it by bringing
about tracking overall status, performance, or trends
in irrelevant information.
within a department or organization.
• It is an attempt to redirect a conversation
away from its original topic. • In short, periodic reports track general ongoing
Example activities across time
Sample Periodic Report Survey Report
Every quarter, the marketing team publishes a • This document helps a business highlight findings
periodic report detailing the performance metrics of from a survey. the
our latest campaigns. This report includes data on
• It does its best to summarize the responses of a
website traffic, social media engagement, and email
survey and objectively present the information
open rates, helping us understand trends and adjust
while using visuals like tables, graphs, charts, and
our strategies accordingly.
infographics to make reports easy to read.
Sales Report
EXAMPLE
• A sales report details the performance of a
• According to the recent customer satisfaction
business for a specified period. They can also reveal
survey report, 85% of respondents rated their
happenings on the field to inform decisions. • This
experience with our customer service as excellent.
type of report highlights sales volume, revenue from
The survey also highlighted areas for improvement,
the sales, leads, etc. They may be used to set key
such as reducing wait times for support calls.
performance indicators or formulate an entire
business target. Budget Report
EXAMPLE • A budget report is concerned with the pre-set
budget conditions and how they compare with the
• The sales report for Q3 shows a 15% increase in
company’s financial situation.
revenue compared to the previous quarter. This
growth is primarily driven by the successful launch • It helps businesses make proper financial
of our new product line, which accounted for 40% decisions and can be used to compare milestones
of the total sales. over a specific period.
Progress Report EXAMPLE
• This report focuses specifically on the • The annual budget report outlines the allocation of
advancement of a single project or task. • It details funds across various departments. This year, we
what has been completed, what remains, and any have increased the budget for research and
challenges encountered, often including next steps. development by 20% to support innovation and
development. new product
• Progress reports help stakeholders understand how
close a project is to completion and any issues that Field Report
might affect the timeline.
• A field report is a detailed documentation of
• In short, progress reports track the status and observations and analysis of specific behaviors,
development of a specific project or objective. phenomena, processes, people, and places.
EXAMPLE • Grounded in theoretical frameworks and
researchers’ analysis, it aims to identify solutions
The progress report for the new website
for a particular project or case study.
development project indicates that we are 60%
complete. Key milestones achieved include the EXAMPLE
completion of the homepage design and the
integration of the e commerce platform. • During the field visit to the manufacturing plant, it
was observed that safety protocols were strictly
followed, and there were no incidents reported. The
report also includes recommendations for further
improving efficiency and worker safety.
Feasibility Report • Lab reports are commonly used in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
• A feasibility report is a report that evaluates a set
fields.
of proposed project paths or solutions to determine
if they are viable. EXAMPLE
• The person who prepares a feasibility report •The laboratory report on the latest experiment
evaluates the feasibility of different solutions and shows that the new formula developed for the
then chooses their recommendation for the best product met all safety and efficacy standards,
solution. paving the way for further testing and potential
market release.
• They then present the feasibility report to their
company and make their recommendation. Incident Report
EXAMPLE • An incident report is an informational report that
details the facts of an incident.
•The feasibility report for the proposed new branch
office concludes that the project is viable, with • Incident reports may also reveal unusual
projected profits outweighing the initial investment occurrences, safety and health issues, security
costs within the first three years of operation. breaches, near misses, damage, etc.
Evaluation Report • It highlights the cause, exact occurrence, and ways
to prevent incidents in the future.
• An evaluation report documents a product’s
effectiveness if a service meets expectations or if a • Specific industries like insurance companies and
campaign is successful. security agencies may also require them.
• Evaluation reports also highlight findings and EXAMPLE
make recommendations based on the performance.
• The incident report details an unexpected power
It is a formal, in depth report, sometimes including
outage in the main office on October 12th, which
background information, definitions, results,
resulted in the temporary loss of data. The report
forecasts, and recommendations.
includes steps taken to resolve the issue and
EXAMPLE preventive measures to avoid future occurrences.
•The program evaluation report indicates that the Reports
recently implemented employee training initiative
Reports are important in the workplace for various
has led to a 30% increase in productivity and a 20%
purposes. Each type serves a function.
decrease in error rates.
• There are reports that recommend and propose
Laboratory Report
changes in the company, address and recommend
• A lab report conveys the aim, methods, results, solutions for problems, record sales, losses, and
and conclusions of a scientific experiment. profits, and present results of an experiment, survey,
or research.
• The main purpose of a lab report is to demonstrate
your understanding of the scientific method by • Given all the company's operations, reports are
performing and evaluating a hands-on lab written, read, and utilized. Periodic and progress
experiment. reports track advancements and ongoing activities,
while survey and evaluation reports gather insights
• This type of assignment is usually shorter than a
from peers and assess program effectiveness.
research paper.
• Sales and budget reports focus on resource
management and financial planning, whereas field
and laboratory reports document practical
applications and research findings.
• Feasibility reports evaluate the potential success of
proposed initiatives, and incident reports address
unexpected events or challenges encountered in the
learning environment.
• Collectively, these various report types prepare
students for academic rigor and professional
practices, fostering their ability to analyze
information and present findings clearly and
effectively.