POSITION PAPER

WHAT IS POSITION PAPER?

•A position paper is an essay that presents

an arguable opinion about an issue –
typically that of the author or some
specified entity.
•Position papers are published in academia,
in politics, in law and other domains.
• The goal of a position paper is to convince the audience that
the opinion presented is valid and worth listening to. Ideas for
position papers that one is considering need to be carefully
examined when choosing a topic, developing an argument, and
organizing the paper.
• Position papers range from the simplest format of a letter to
the editor, through to the most complex in the form of an
academic position paper. Position papers are also used by
large organizations to make public the official beliefs and
recommendations of the group.
PRINCIPLES AND USES OF A
POSITION PAPER
 IN ACADEMIA

• Position papers in academia enable discussion on

emerging topics without the experimentation and
original research normally present in an academic
paper. Commonly, such a newspaper and
magazines.
 IN POLITICS

• Position papers are most useful in contexts where

detailed comprehension of another entity's views is
important; as such, they are commonly used by
political campaigns,government organizations, in the
diplomatic world, and in efforts to change values
(e.g. through public service announcements) and
organizational branding.
•In government, a position paper lies
on somewhere between a white
paper and a green paper in that they
affirm definite opinions and propose
solutions but may not go so far as
detailing specific plans for
implementation.
 IN LAW

• In international law, the term for a position paper

is Aide-mémoire. An Aide-Mémoire is
memorandum setting forth the minor points of a
proposed discussion or disagreement, used
especially in undiplomatic communications.
• The purpose of a position paper is to generate
support on an issue. It describes the author’s position
on an issue and the rational for that position and, in
the same way that a research paper incorporates
supportive evidence, is based on facts that provide a
solid foundation for the author’s argument. It is a
critical examination of a position using facts and
inductive reasoning, which addresses both strengths
and weaknesses of the author’s opinion.
 SPECIAL USES OF POSITION PAPER

•Position paper also have other uses although

they may be used as frames of reference
when questions come from journalist and to
reorient spokespersons ang management
personnel.
 SPECIAL USES OF POSITION PAPER

•Position paper can be used as the basis of

essay or commentary to be submitted to
the op-ed page in local newspaper.
•The position paper should have enough
documentation in it to stand alone as the
basis of op-ed piece.
IMPORTANCE OF POSITION PAPER
• a position paper can serve as an official record of
a decision that has been made, explaining the
research that went into reaching a decision, how
that decision will be implemented, and any other
factors that seem relevant. In a governmental
organization, this might be the only real record
there is that a decision has even been reached, let
alone the rationale behind it.
• For example - say I was asked to write a position paper on…I don’t
know…cleanup standards following a radiological attack. I would
have to read up on the existing regulations and regulatory guidance,
make sure I understood the health effects of various levels of
radiation exposure, research cleanup costs and look into where the
waste could be put, and any other relevant factors - and then try to
pull all of this together into a recommendation that would be
protective of public health and safety, that would recognize that a
“deeper” cleaning is going to cost a lot more than a lighter one
while providing (maybe) not much additional protection, and any
other number of factors (political, economic, societal, and so much
more). And then I would have to reach a conclusion - that the
government will require cleaning up to xxx level, but no further.
•This process, and the final result, puts the
government on record as saying “For these
reasons (health, cost, social impact, etc.) we
recommend doing this much cleanup, should
such an attack come to pass.” That, then, gives
everybody - government, health, business -
something that they can refer to when they’re
making their own plans for such an event.
CHARACTERISTICS OF POSITION
PAPER
 1) A paper should be in the author’s
own words.
• This is probably the most basic requirement.
Plagiarism is intentionally or unintentionally
representing somebody else’s ideas as one’s own,
and should be avoided at all costs. You may, of
course, appeal to the ideas of others, if you
acknowledge doing so and site your sources
appropriately.
 2) A POSITION PAPER SHOULD HAVE A CLEAR
PURPOSE.

• Your readers should always have a clear understanding

of what you’re going to do in your paper.
• I find it helpful to think about position papers as
attempts to answer specific questions, and to think
about think of position papers as falling to four general
kinds, according to the types of questions they attempt
to address.
THERE ARE FOUR GENERAL KINDS OF
POSITION PAPERS, AND EACH HAS IT’S
OWN TYPE OF OBJECTIVE.
 EXPOSITIVE WRITING

•tries to answer questions of the

form “What did A say or think
about P?” “What did A mean in the
following passage?” and so on.
• expositive writing and 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. It
often involves arguing for or against a certain
interpretation of that philosopher’s ideas by showing
that this interpretation is more or less consistent with
other writings by the same philosopher, entails
consequences which the philosopher would or would
not be willing to accept, etc.
 COMPARATIVE WRITING

•takes up questions like “How are positions X

and Y similar, and how to do they differ?”
“What is the relationship between the
arguments for X and Y?” and “How do
philosophers A and B compare with respect to
their thinking on P?”
•As with expositive writing, comparative
writing will usually require you to
summarizing or setting out the
arguments and positions your own
words. It will also require you to defend
your claims of commonality and
difference.
 3. EVALUATIVE WRITING

•considers such questions as “Is position P

plausible?” “Is P more or less plausible
than Q?” “Is the argument for P strong?”
“Is the argument for P stronger or weaker
than the argument for Q?”
• If a position seems to contradict what we know,
or if we can find a case which seems to contradict
the position, that’s a mark against the position. If
an argument assumes things we have reason to
doubt, or which can’t be believed without
accepting the conclusion, or if those ideas don’t
seem to support the conclusion the argument
wants to us draw, that’s a mark against the
argument.
 4. CONSTRUCTIVE WRITING

• is unlike expositive, comparative, or evaluative

writing in that the questions it considers are less
directly concerned with pre-existing positions or
arguments. Instead of asking “What did A think
about P?” for example, constructive writing asks
“What should we think about P?” or “What’s the
truth about P?”
•In defending a position of our own,
usually involves an analysis and evaluation
of particularly relevant and influential
work in order to elucidate or advance
our own position, carefully supporting
our position with argument, and
responding to actual or potential
objections.
 3) A paper should be well organized.

•Your paper as a whole, and each part of your

paper, should work to fulfill the purpose of
the paper. It should take up each task in the
order most helpful to meeting that
objectazive and finish one thing before
starting another.
 4) A paper should flow.
• Ensure that your paper flows nicely from one point to the next.
Avoid sudden jerks. Use smooth transitions.
• Organizational cues, including section headings, transitions,
subject-changes, and summaries of what will be or has been
done, can help your reader to follow your paper.
• If there is more than one argument, ensure that your readers
understand how the arguments are related to each other (e.g.
one argument might be your own position, another argument
might be a possible objection, a third argument might be a
response to that objection, etc.)
 5) A paper should be clear.

• Make sure that you really understand what you’re saying and that an average member of
your audience could be expected to understand it, too. When it doubt about your
audience, the positions and arguments should be stated in such a way that they would be
understood by a reasonably intelligent reader who is unfamiliar with the material.
• If you are going to set out an argument (either your own or another person’s)
make certain to include all of the important ideas and ensure that the connections
between the ideas are as clear as possible.
• It really helps to read your work out loud and ask yourself “If I were someone
else, would I understand this?” It also helps to provide your reader with guiding
questions, definitions of specialized terminology, descriptions of positions, and
important distinctions.
 6) A paper should be complete.
•Think slowly. Don’t jump to conclusions.
Flesh out all ideas and arguments in sufficient
detail and ensure that you adequately defend
claims that need defending.
•Sometimes, specific examples can help to flesh
out and support general claims.
 7) A position paper should
be focused.
Try not to include irrelevant or
inessential material, unrelated the
attainment of the paper’s purpose. If
you aren’t going to discuss an
argument, for example, don’t spend
time setting it out.
 8) A position paper should
be substantively correct.
• Attribute positions to the right person and represent those positions
correctly. Always try to avoid speculating about an author’s motivations
because motivations are difficult to establish and are usually irrelevant to
the merits of an author’s case.
• Ensure that your own reasoning avoids serious errors of fact or logic. If
you aren’t sure that your interpretation is correct, or that your argument is
sound, admit it.
• Note actual or possible objections to your position, interpretation or
argument. If you admit possible problems, and discuss them intelligently,
they don’t really count as mistakes.
 9) A POSITION PAPER
SHOULD
BE MECHANICALLY
CORRECT, ADHERING TO
THE RULES OF STYLE AND
USAGE.
10) IDEALLY, A POSITION PAPER
SHOULD BE CREATIVE, ASKING
NEW QUESTIONS, ANSWERING
OLD QUESTIONS IN NEW WAYS,
SEEING NEW THINGS, SEEING
OLD THINGS IN NEW WAYS, OR
MAKING AN ORIGINAL POINT.
 WHAT ARE THE ISSUES IN
WHICH A POSITION PAPER
MA BE EFFECTIVELY USED IN
OR PRESENT SOCIETY?
 1.Social Issues
2.Educational Issues
3.Technology
4.Media
5.Relationships
6.War and Peace
 SOCIAL ISSUES

Example:
What is the cause of the increase in
child obesity? (cause)
 EDUCATIONAL ISSUES

Example
Does adding year to the high
school really improve learning?
(fact)
 TECHNOLOGY

Example
Textbook should be replaced by
iPad and online resources. (policy)
 MEDIA

Example
Does the news from ABS
CBN bias? (fact)
 RELATIONSHIPS

Example
What are the causes of
having broken family? (cause)
 WAR AND PEACE

Example
What is not really the
solution to achieve peace.