HANDOUT IN ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

MODULE 9 TO 13

MANIFESTO
➢ A manifesto advances a set of ideas, opinions, or views, but it can also lay out a plan of action. While
it can address any topic, it most often concerns art, literature, or politics.
➢ Manifestos are generally written in the name of a group sharing a common perspective, ideology, or
purpose rather than in the name of a single individual.
➢ Manifestos often mark the adoption of a new vision, approach, program, or genre.
➢ They criticize a present state of affairs but also announce its passing, proclaiming the advent of a
new movement or even of a new era. In this sense, manifestos combine a sometimes violent societal
critique with an inaugural and inspirational declaration of change.
➢ Manifestos are a powerful catalyst. By publicly stating your views and intentions, you create a pact
for taking action.

Examples of Manifesto:
1. An eye to see nature. Frank Lloyd Wright
2. A heart to feel nature. Frank Lloyd Wright
3. Courage to follow nature. Frank Lloyd Wright
4. The internet does not forget. And sooner or later, the internet finds out. Seth Godin
5. The greatest salesperson understand that people resist change and that ‘no” is the single easiest
way to do that. Seth Godin
6. Be good but try to let no one know it. Leo Tolstoy
7. Always live less expensively than you might. Leo Tolstoy
8. Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful. John Maeda
NOTE: You can also create your own manifesto.

POSITION PAPER
➢ A position paper is a kind of academic writing in which the student researches a controversial
issue and writes a paper that explains his/her stand or viewpoint on it.
➢ Like a debate, a position paper presents one side of an arguable opinion about an issue.
➢ It is based on facts that provides a solid foundation for your arguments.
➢ It is a critical analysis of current facts, data, and research literature.

What are the Purposes/Goals of a Position Paper?

The goal of a position paper is to convince the audience that your opinion is valid and
defensible. Ideas that you are considering need to be carefully examined in choosing a topic,
developing your argument, and organizing your paper. It is very important to ensure that you are
addressing all sides of the issue and presenting it in a manner that is easy for your audience to
understand. Your job is to take one side of the argument and persuade your audience that you have
well-founded knowledge of the topic being presented. It is important to support your argument with
evidence to ensure the validity of your claims, as well as to refute the counterclaims to show that you
are well informed about both sides.

Characteristics of a Good Position Paper

1) A position paper should be in the author’s own words.
2) A position paper should have a clear purpose.
3) A position paper should be well-organized.
4) A position paper should flow.
5) A position paper should be clear.
6) A position paper should be complete.
7) A position paper should be focused.
8) A position paper should be substantively correct.
9) A position paper should be mechanically correct.
10) A position paper should be creative.

Four General Kinds of Position Papers

1. Expository Writing
-It is a type of writing that seeks to explain, describe, define, inform, or clarify. It literally
means “to expose”(where the word expository comes from)
2. Comparative writing
- It mainly compares and contrast various aspects of the subject.
- It tries to explain how two subjects are either similar or different. These writings are
mainly about comparing and contrasting various aspects of the subjects in question. In this context,
to compare is to identify the similarities between the subjects while to contrast is to describe their
differences. They are not limited to specific topics; they can cover almost every topic on earth as long
as the subjects have some relation.
- Example: Position on an issue…

3. Evaluative writing
- a type of writing intended to judge something according to a set of criteria.
- For instance, your health might be evaluated by an insurance company before issuing a
policy. The purpose of this evaluation would be to determine your overall health and to check for
existing medical conditions.

4. Constructive writing
- This writing provides factual information, critical analysis, and space for more than one
viewpoint.

Example: Legalization of Abortion in the Philippines, Legalization of marijuana as medicine in the

Philippines

Structure of a Position Paper

I. Introduction
➢ The introduction should clearly identify the issue and state the author’s position.
➢ It should be written in a way that catches the reader’s attention. II. Body
➢ The body of the position paper may contain several paragraphs.
➢ Each paragraph should present an idea or main concept that clarifies a portion of the position
statement and is supported by evidence or facts.
➢ Evidence can be primary source quotations, statistical data, interviews with experts, and
indisputable dates or events.
➢ Evidence should lead, through inductive reasoning, to the main concept or idea presented in
the paragraph.
III. Conclusion
➢ The conclusion should summarize the main concepts and ideas and reinforce, without
repeating, the introduction or body of the paper.
➢ It could include suggested courses of action and possible solutions.

Strategies for Structuring your Position Paper.

➢ Define the issue and provide as thorough a background as possible. State your own position.
➢ Discuss and analyze the various positions you have researched. Ensure that both strengths and
weaknesses are considered.
➢ Discuss your position and analyze its strengths and weaknesses. Discuss its relevance to other
positions and why you have chosen it. Provide counters against potential criticisms of and
weaknesses in the argument.
➢ Give reasons why your position and/or suggested course of action is the optimum one for all
parties involved. A successful position paper is one that persuades its audience towards its
argument. Reading your paper objectively and asking the same questions of it as you asked of
the ones you researched, will help you avoid the same weaknesses in argument that you may
have noticed in the papers you have analyzed.

STEPS IN WRITING POSITION PAPER

1. Decide on a topic.
2. Write your position idea.
3. Gather your sources.
4. Decide what sort of claim you are writing, (fact, definition, cause, value, policy)
5. Do pre-writing about your audience.
6. Outline
7. Write your paper, including adding your author tags, evidence and citations.
8. Do Peer Editing
9. Re-vise your draft using the information you got from your reader(s)
10. Final Proofread.

Criteria in Writing Objectives

l. Behavior — Specific behavior as indicated by action verbs (summarize, enumerate, compare, defend,
justify).

2. Audience — Description of the students who are expected to demonstrate the

behavior.

3. Criterion — Description of the criteria used to indicate whether the behavior has been
demonstrated (e. g. answering 8 out of 10 questions correctly; judgment of writing based on grammar,
spelling, sentence construction, and organization).

4. Condition — Circumstances, equipment, or material used when demonstrating the behavior (e.
g., with or without class notes, open book, using graph paper, given a calculator).

BY WHEN SUBJECT OBSERVABLE ACTION

By the end of this lesson, Learners will be able to cook a well-done

steak on the stove using a pan in 4 – 6 minutes.

CONDITION RESOURCES CONSTRAINTS

Figure 2. Parts of an Objective

Writing Measurable Learning Objectives

1. Identify the subject or noun or thing. It could be person a person or thing that is being
discussed, described, or dealt with.

2. Identify the time constraint when the action would be performed.

3. Select a verb that is observable to describe the behavior at the appropriate level of learning.

4. Add additional criteria to indicate how or when the outcome will be observable to add context for
the student.

The structure of a report is similar to that of an essay just that the key difference between an
essay and a report is that an essay has its sections like the introduction, body and conclusion. The
essay does not have a heading unlike the report. It must be noted that the objective is part of the
structure of a report.

OUTLINE FOR THE REPORT

Title page
a. Title
b. Author's name
c. Course
d. Date of experiment

Introduction
a. Purpose/ overview
b. Why important to field
c. Objective(s) for this particular experiment

Description of Findings /Results

a. Description of results
b. Totality of the report
c. Relevant comparisons with theory
 Discussion
a. Brief review of results, if necessary
b. Discussion (trends in results, comparison with theory, answers to discussed questions in
Report Requirements section)
c. Conclusions supported by data

Conclusions and recommendations

References

As seen on the outline of the structure of a report are the following:

Title it contains the authors name, the course and the date of the report.

Introduction briefly describes the context and background of the report, the changes that had
occurred, problems or issues to be reported on. It is where you define the specific objectives
and purpose of the report.

Methodology the portion of the report where you will state how you did your research/enquiry
and the methods you used such as, surveys, interviews, questionnaires and observation.

Findings/results this are the principal outcomes of a research project; what the project
suggested, revealed or indicated. This usually refers to the totality of outcomes.

Discussion considered as the main body of the report and it has two key purposes:
a. to explain the conclusions
b. to justify the recommendations

Conclusions and recommendations are be arranged so that the major

conclusions come first, it identifies the major issues relating to the report and gives your interpretation
of them, relates specifically to the objectives of the report as set out in the introduction it does follow
logically from the facts in the discussion and most of all it should be clean-cut, specific and brief.

Recommendations should point to the future and should be action oriented. logically related
to the discussion and conclusion, arranged in order of importance and it must be brief.
.
Reference’s page is the last page of an essay or research paper. It lists all the sources you've used in
your project so you can easily find what you've cited.

A questionnaire is simply a list of mimeographed or printed questions that is completed by or for a

respondent to give his opinion. In order to gather useful and relevant information it is essential that
careful consideration is given to the design of your questionnaire. A welldesigned questionnaire requires
thought and effort, and needs to be planned and developed in a number of stages (Fig. 1):
 Initial Question content,
and response
phrasisng
considerations format

Question Pretest (pilot) and

layo and
sequence
ut revision

Final
questionnaire

Figure 1: Stages of planning a questionnaire

Types of Survey Questions

Two important aspects of questionnaire design are the structure of the questions and the decisions on the
types of response formats for each question. Broadly speaking, survey questions can be classified into
three structures: closed, open-ended, and contingency questions.

A. Closed Questions
Closed (or multiple choice) questions ask the respondent to choose, among a possible set of answers, the
response that most closely represents his/her viewpoint. The respondent is usually asked to tick or circle
the chosen answer. Questions of this kind may offer simple alternatives such as ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. They may
also require that the respondent chooses among several answer categories, or that he/she uses a
frequency scale, an importance scale, or an agreement scale.
Example:
How often do you play mobile Legends in a day? Please encircle one answer only.
Never………………………………………1
1 to 3 hours………………………………..2 4 to 4
hours………………………………..3
Nearly the whole day……...………………4

The main advantages of closed questions are:

• the respondent is restricted to a finite (and therefore more manageable) set of responses;
• they are easy and quick to answer;
• they have response categories that are easy to code, and
• they permit the inclusion of more variables in a research study because the format enables the
respondent to answer more questions in the same time required to answer fewer open-ended
questions.
The main disadvantages with closed questions are:
• they can introduce bias, either by forcing the respondent to choose between given alternatives or
by offering alternatives that otherwise would not have come to mind;
• they do not allow for creativity or for the respondent to develop ideas;
• they do not permit the respondent to qualify the chosen response or express a more complex or
subtle meaning;
• they can introduce bias, where there is a tendency for the respondent to tick systematically either
the first or last category, to select what may be considered as the most socially desirable response
alternative, or to answer all items in a list in the same way; and
 • they require skill to write because response categories need to be appropriate, and mutually
exclusive.

Some closed questions may have a dichotomous response format, which means only two mutually
exclusive responses are provided.
Example:
What is your sex?
___ Male
___ Female
For the above example a dichotomous response format is appropriate. However, this type of format should
not be overused in a survey because it elicits much less information than multiple choice formats. For
example, if seeking information on degree of interest in public affairs, the question “Do you read a daily
newspaper?” yields a yes/no response. This could be reworded to: “How many times per week do you read
a daily newspaper?” to which multiple choice responses could be:
1. Seven times a week
2. Five to six times a week
3. Three to four times a week
4. One to two times per week
5. Less than once per week
6. Never Such a multiple category response format would provide more specific and more useful
information than the dichotomous one.

B. Open-ended Questions
Open-ended or free-response questions are not followed by any choices and the respondent must answer
by supplying a response, usually by entering a number, a word, or a short text. Answers are recorded in
full, either by the interviewer or, in the case of a self-administered survey, the respondent records his or
her own entire response.
Example:
Who is your favorite Mobile Legend hero?
What Korean movie do you love most?
The main advantages of open-ended questions are:
• they allow respondents to express their ideas spontaneously in their own language;
• they are less likely to suggest or guide the answer than closed questions because they
are free from the format effects associated with closed questions; and
• they can add new information when there is very little existing information available
about a topic.
The main disadvantages of open-ended questions are:
• they may be difficult to answer and even more difficult to analyze, they require effort
and time on behalf of the respondent;
• they require the development of a system of coded categories with which to classify the
responses;
• they require the respondent to have some degree of writing ability; and
• respondent handwriting can be illegible

A good case for using open-ended questions is when the aim is to have the respondents reply
spontaneously, or when the investigator. is pilot testing the first version of the questionnaire, or when the
investigator wants to collect evidence on the parameters of an issue with the aim of later formulating a
multiple choice or closed version of a question.
Generally, open-ended questions can produce useful information in an interviewer administered survey,
provided that the interviewers are alert and trained to probe ambiguous responses. In self-administered
surveys, it is useful to provide instructions on the format of the response that is required so as to
minimize opportunities for the respondents to answer the question according to very different dimensions.
C. Contingency Questions
A contingency question is a special case of a closed-ended question because it applies only to a subgroup
of respondents. The relevance of the question for a subgroup is determined by asking a filter question. The
filter question directs the subgroup to answer a relevant set of specialized questions and instructs other
respondents to skip to a later section of the questionnaire.
The advantage of contingency questions is that detailed data may be obtained from a specific subgroup of
the population. Some questions may apply only to females and not to males; others may apply only to
people in school, and not to those who are employed.
 At the base of good contingency questions are clear and specific instructions to respondents. The formats
for filter and contingency questions can vary. One option is to write directions next to the response
category of the filter question.
Example:
Do you play Mobile Legends?
Yes (answer the question)
No (skip the question number 4))
Alternatively, the contingency question can be placed at the end of the questionnaire set apart from
ordinary questions that are to be answered by everybody:
Example:
ANSWER THIS FINAL SET OF QUESTIONS ONLY IF YOU PLAN ON
ENTERING A COLLEGE NEXT YEAR. OTHERWISE, YOU HAVE NOW
COMPLETED THE QUESTIONNAIRE

The word survey is used most often today to describe a method of gathering information from a sample of
individuals in order to learn something about the large population from which the sample has been
drawn.
Information is collected using standardized procedures so that every individual is asked the same
questions in more or less the same way. The survey’s intent is not to describe the particular individual
who, by chance is part of the sample, but to obtain a composite profile of the population. Surveys provide
a speedy and economical means of determining facts about peoples’ knowledge, attitudes, beliefs,
expectations and behaviors.

Survey methods can be classified in many ways:

• One classification is by size and type of sample – special population groups, geographical area, etc.
• Another classification is by method of data collection – mail, telephone interview and in-person
interview. Chart audits – extracting data from sample of medical and other records – come under the
heading of survey methods.
• Third classification is by survey content – voter preferences, consumer spending, transportation
habits, and health issues.

Steps to follow in conducting a survey

1. Formulate the survey keeping in mind your overall substantive and analytical needs.

✓ Define the problem you want to examine.

✓ Identify the population that will be surveyed.
✓ Determine what kinds of variables that you want to measure. ✓ What questions do you want to
have answered? ; and ✓ What’s the best way to go about getting those answers?

2. Determine specifically what mode of collecting the data will be used.

✓ Personal interviews.
✓ Telephone surveys.
✓ Mailed questionnaires/drop-off surveys; and ✓ Web-based surveys and email-based surveys.

3. Determine the number of respondents/ participants of the survey.

4. Develop the questionnaire (the survey instrument)
✓ Each question should fit into the overall plan of research ; and
✓ Each question should be suitable for the mode you have chosen to conduct the survey and for
the population that has been sampled.

5. If you are using telephone or personal interviews, be sure the interviewers are carefully trained.

✓ Interviewer effects (bias) can wreck otherwise well-designed surveys.

6. Conduct an early pretest of the survey, whenever possible
✓ Use these results to refine the instrument and work out any bus in the survey procedures.

7. Execute the survey in the field and be ready to deal with problems.
8. Edit and process the data.
 ✓ Code responses in a reasonable and useable way. ✓ Make data machine-
readable ; and ✓ Minimize errors.

9. Analyze the data

✓ Descriptive statistics.
✓ Inferential statistics (build models—ANOVA, ANCOVA, regression, SEM).
✓ Develop your findings or conclusions ; and
✓ Write up a summary of what you have found.
Report writing is one of the most important components in the survey research cycle. This is the
reason why survey findings need to be presented in a way that is readable and technically acceptable.
A report provides a formal record of a survey and it can provide a foundation for future research
efforts.
A survey report is a formal piece of writing based on research.

STRUCTURE OF A SURVEY REPORT

1. Introduction
The introduction of survey report states the purpose/aim of the report. It also tells
when and how the information was gathered. This section provides the background of the
study.
2. Main body
All the information collected and analyzed are presented clearly and in detail. The respondents
are broken down into groups according to sex, age and place of residence. It also states the
main differences between groups. Subheadings, numbers or letters can be used to separate
each piece of information.
The information contained in this section shows the key results from the survey. It does not
need to include every possible breakdown of the data. Rather, it should highlight results that
are both statistical and practical significance.

3. Conclusion
This section sums up the points mentioned in the introduction and body of the survey
report. If necessary, a recommendation can be included as well. One way of summing up is also
making some general comments on the survey.
Please take note on the following:
1. Useful Hints and Phrases in Presenting the Gathered Results in a Survey
Present tenses, reported speech and an impersonal style should be used in survey reports.
Use a variety of reporting verbs such as claim, state, report, agree, complain, suggest, etc.

When reporting the results of a survey, the figures gathered should be given in the form of
percentages and proportions. Expressions such as “one in four” or “six out of ten” can be used, or
exact percentages e.g. 25% of the people questioned, 68% of those who filled in the questionnaire,
etc. Less exact expressions such as: the majority of those questioned, a large proportion of, a
significant number of, etc. can also be used.

2. Useful language for Survey Report:

Purpose Language

To introduce The purpose/aim of this report, as requested, this survey was

carried out/ conducted by means of., the questionnaire
To generalize In generalize, generally, on the whole, etc.

To refer to a fact The fact is that, In fact, In practice, etc.

To conclude/ In condition, all things considered, to sum up, all in all, it is not
summarize easy to reach any definite conclusions

Laboratory or scientific experiment report is a document that describes the process, progress,
and or results of technical or scientific research.
PARTS or STRUCTURE OF LABORATORY or SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT REPORT
1. Title
The title provides keywords of not less than ten words for indexing and it should reflect
the factual content of the paper.
2. Abstract
The aim of an abstract is to let the reader decide whether to read the entire report or
not. A good abstract is complete but concise having the summary of the purpose of the report,
the data presented, and the author’s major conclusions.
NOTE: Abstract is a self-contained synopsis of the report. It is an informative summary of
what a researcher did and what he or she found out.
❖ The abstract should include the following:
- Objectives
- A brief reference to the materials and methods
- A summary of the results and conclusions (It must be brief but thorough statements
of the outcome/s of the experiment.)

3. Introduction
The introduction provides the context in which the experiment takes place, establishes
the purpose for doing the experiments, contributes to the knowledge of the field and
summarizes previous research published in the field.
The purpose of the introduction is to put the reader in the picture and place the
research experiment within a context.

❖ Introduction should present the following concerns:

➢ The aim of the study or experiment
➢ Previous knowledge of the subject ➢ Specific purpose of the
study

4. Materials and Methods

This section gives information about the materials and methods used in the experiment.
It also presents how the materials were used and it answers where and when the work was
done.
❖ Examples of materials to be used are:
➢ Apparatus
➢ Equipment table
➢ Procedures
5. Results
Results section concentrates on general trends and differences and not on trivia details
providing information or data gathered from the experiment conducted. For clearer and more
logical presentation, these data are organized into tables, figures, graphs, or photographs with
descriptive titles and legend to define any symbols and abbreviations.
❖ Take note that figures and tables must be well-understood by the readers even without
referring to the text.
6. Discussion
This report gives the interpretation of the data from the results section and the logic
behind the acceptance or rejection of the hypothesis.
Suggestions and recommendation to improve the methods and experimental design
utilized in the project may also presented here. Furthermore, the writer may improve concepts
in this particular field of organization.
❖ Remember: The discussion must answer the question “what do the results mean?” and it is
and argument based on results.

7. References Citing References in Writing

Cite any reference that you have used, ensuring that each item in the reference list has an in-
text citation, and every in-text citation has a full reference in the reference list at the end of
your paper.

Ensure that the references are formatted according to the style required by the journal (or your
lecturer/supervisor), and be careful with spelling.

Information is the results of data processing. Data only becomes information that you can use
to make decision after they have been processed. On the other hand, summary reduces the amount of
data needed but it increases the ability to interpret the data.

Summary includes the most distinct results of the data gathering. It includes only the main
points about the subject being studied.
HOW TO SUMMARIZE THE DATA
1. Clean the data
Remove the inaccurate information depending on the data gathered.
❖ Some types of responses that you need to address before summarizing data:
➢ Inapplicable responses (e.g., males students answered questions in section for female
students only)
➢ Inappropriate multiple responses (e.g., two answers checked for one non-multiple
choice question)
➢ Responses outside given category: (e.g., student wrote in answer because they didn't
like choices provided)
➢ "Other" responses that really aren't (i.e., student checked “Other — Please Specify” but
their comment matched one of the answers provided

2. Make a list. List the raw data, wherein he will remove the identifying information such as
names to ensure confidentiality and lastly, compare the list to the source information.
3. Chart your results
Use tables, line graphs or bar graphs to get a clear look at the big picture, ❖ Tips to chart your
results
➢ AVOID complex statistics
➢ Use round numbers
➢ Create simple charts, graphs, lists (They are easier to read and understand.)
➢ Sort results from highest to lowest [optional]
➢ Percentages may be more meaningful than averages
➢ Show trend data if assessing over time

EXAMPLE: A group of students conducted a study on the level of implementation of Brigada Eskwela
in San Gabriel Senior High School. The table below shows their data on the Grade 12 respondents of
the study.

Respondents N %
Male 25 50%
Female 25 50%
Total 50 100%

Legend: N= Number of respondents

4. Find the story on the data (Analyze data)
The writer will do data summary which makes it easier for you to see the meaning but by
themselves since they don't reveal the whole story. You also need to include an explicit narrative
interpretation of what you saw in the data, and what you plan to do about it.