Guidelines for the Position Paper Take an initial position based on one or more of the 5 themes from the class and with reference to class readings. The position should read as a thesis and should be at most one or two sentences long. For example, a thesis may read “Corporations are the primary cause of de facto inequality” or “Corporations reduce inequality,” though your theses will typically be longer than this. It is not necessary that you be fully convinced of this initial thesis, but you should believe it has merit and is worth investigating. Pursue a topic that interests you. The only requirement is that it be related to the themes of the course. Write a 1500 to 1750 word reflective essay on how your initial position has changed and evolved as you pursued options a (journaling) or b (research) format. Those who choose the research option must use predominantly their original research to support their claims, but they may also use a few readings from class. Students who choose the journaling option must focus on their journaling data to support their claims, as well as at least five of the readings from class. Ultimately, the reflective essay will either endorse, refute, or accept with qualifications the original position. The two critical elements will be to 1) explain how the journaling or research resulted in an evolution of the original position, and 2) relate your arguments to the readings done throughout the term. Explore both dissenting and supportive elements of your initial position through one of the following options: Option 1 - Instructions for the Journaling Format On at least four days per week, you will record observations on your social/business contexts in light of your stated position. You should do this for at least four weeks. The raw data of daily observation you record must attend not only to evidence that supports your original position, but also to evidence that refutes or troubles your position. You should observe the behaviors and activities of the members of the society in which you live. You must relate these observations to the daily practices of the businesses and institutions which support that society; crucially, you must do so through the lens of your own activities and choices. Thus, the daily observations must display awareness of the larger systems of which you are a part, the manner in which those systems influence your decisions, and the unique role each individual plays in shaping those systems. Please include the journal as an appendix at the end of your paper. You can include some of your journal entries in the main text (contributing to the 1,500 word minimum) if they are well written. Here are some examples of outlines: Introduction Body Conclusion References Appendix Introduction [Theme 1] [Theme 2] … Conclusion References Appendix Option 2 - Instructions for the Research Format Conduct searches of the local and international media and social media, collect data from government and non-governmental agencies (e.g., Statistics Canada, think tanks), consult academic journal articles and books, interview stakeholders, etc. (not all these methods need be used, but data must come from a variety of sources). Like the journaling exercise, the research paper must take into account all evidence at hand, including (crucially) that which does not support the original position. Here are some examples of outlines: Introduction Findings Analysis Conclusion References Appendix Introduction [Theme 1] [Theme 2] … Conclusion References Appendix Option 3 - Instructions for the Thesis Format Cover Page The information that should appear on your cover page is – The title of your project – Your name – The name of the course – You can also add a photo or two if you like. *Do not add the words Cover Page on your actual cover page. This may seem self-evident, but it has appeared in some past research projects. Abstract This is a brief summary of everything from your Introduction to your Conclusion. It should be 5 to 7 lines long, not more. Though this appears in the beginning of the paper, people usually write this last because you briefly mention some of your conclusion in it. Introduction At the very least, this should be half a page long. In here you will introduce the topic you are studying. Also explain the population you will study: Your population can be of a specific age group or people who have a certain behavior (people who work in a certain industry for example). Your population can also be general, such as people of all ages who come from a certain geographic location. Your sample will just be a number: How many people will you interview and how many surveys will you distribute? (See the methods section for an idea of what your sample should be.) Leave the sample out if you do not wish to pursue the two optional interviews and surveys. At the end of your introduction, list your one or two hypotheses that are the two “educated guesses” that you are trying to prove or disprove. So the entire point of this paper is to either prove whether your hypotheses seem valid or not. To keep this clear, a hypothesis is simply a statement about the topic that you are writing about. Each hypothesis can be one or two sentences long. Literature Review List at least four authors and describe your topic using their theories. These can be articles or videos from the Content section of this class or they can be outside sources. This section should be at least one and a half pages long in total. For example, you can use news.google.com in order to find articles about your specific topic. Methods Describe the methods you will use to conduct research on the topic you chose. How will you do your research? This section should be at least half a page long. Surveys can be kept short, at around four to six questions. Note that surveys are optional, so you are not required to distribute them. Conduct two optional interviews. You do not need to conduct more than two interviews but you can if you wish. Additional option: You can also mention that you will be including anecdotal events in your Discussion section. Findings Here you will list the information you have found: - Excerpts from two interviews - Charts that list the results of your surveys (for example, a pie chart of how many people answered yes versus how many answered no to a question). Please note that surveys are optional for this project. Any charts and statistics that you came across during your research (for this you obviously must cite your source on the page and list it in the end in the References section) Keep this section organized and well presented. Before adding each of the things mentioned above, add a brief description of what your reader is looking at. For example, before a chart you can write something like “The following chart shows the increase of...” The length of this section is up to you, as it will depend on how large you chose to make your graphs and charts. Discussion Here you will describe the results that you have listed in the previous Findings section. For example, if you listed a chart that represents an increase of people living in poverty over the past ten years in your Findings section, here you will explain the reasons behind that increase or decrease. In this section you will also briefly recall the theories of your Literature Review section. At the end of the Discussion section, who will say whether or not you think your two hypotheses were proven by your research. By the way, it’s alright if you say that one of your hypotheses appears “wrong” or better yet that your research did not prove that it was valid. This section contains the longest amount of text in this paper. This is where your research “comes together,” so keep the length of this in mind when observing the 1500 to 1750 word length of this research project. Conclusion Here are a few suggestions of things that can go into a conclusion: - Challenges faced during the research project - Did your research prove that your hypothesis (position) was valid, or did it prove otherwise? - Ideas for a potential other research project based on this - Final thoughts This section is briefer and should be at least half a page long. References List all books, magazines, or websites that you have used for this research project. Do not only copy and paste the links of websites, as that is not enough. You need to also include complete information before each link. Here is a sample format of a reference: Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. Title of Article. Publisher.* Date of Publication. Link. *I.e. name of newspaper, website, journal or book publisher. Citation information and helpful tool: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/resources.html Additional Notes Please remember to make in-text citations. After each quote or paraphrase, please include the following in parentheses. (Last name of author,* year of publication) * If there is no last name of an author, then simply write the name of the organization, such as the United States Census Bureau, the United Nations or Statistics Canada for example. Large organizations like those typically do not publish names for the reports they publish. Grading and Grade Point Averages (GPA) Instructors may submit final grades as either letter grades or in percentages, but the official grade in each course, which displays on the transcript is the letter grade. Where appropriate, a class average appears on transcripts expressed as the letter grade most representative of the class performance. In such cases, the class average is calculated for courses, where the total number of grades in all of its course sections is 25 or more, and the grades have a grade point (e.g. grades of S, U or P don’t have grade points). Since Fall 2002, the University has only used letter grades on transcripts and verification forms. Grades A through C represent satisfactory passes, D a conditional (non-continuation) pass, and F a failure. Certain courses have been approved for Pass/Fail (P/F) grading. Students may also designate elective courses to be graded under the S/U option. See Courses Taken under the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) Option. You must obtain a grade of C or better in courses that you take to fulfil program requirements. You may not register in a course unless you have passed all the prerequisite courses with a grade of C or better, except by written permission of the appropriate department chair. https://www.mcgill.ca/study/20212022/university_regulations_and_resources/undergraduate/gi_grading_and_grade_point_averages
