Taking a Stance: What is stance?

Stance in academic writing

Taking a stance calls for giving an opinion toward issues you propose as opposed to merely describing things.
xxxTo show the stance you take, you need to explicitly express what you think, not just what you know. A good authorial stance is a result of careful combination of authoritative (called "High Argumentative" in this database) and tentative (called "Med-Argumentative"and "Neutral-Tentative" in this database) claims. Simply put, it is better to project a stance that is both confident (to align the audience to your side) and humble (to allow room for the negotiation of meanings so that your readers can disagree).
xxxAuthoritative claims ("High Argumentative") express the belief/opinion you hold (by proclaiming or indicating high probability). Tentative claims ("Med Argumentative"and "Neutral Tentative") suggest likelihood or tendency and can be realized in (1) comparing or presenting different viewpoints without subscribing to any, (2) arguing for the possibility of your viewpoint, (3) accommodating other viewpoints, etc.
xxxAside from arguing for a stance, describing or presenting facts (thus "stance-less" and called "Non-Argumentative" in this database) is also critical in setting up the background for the argument or in giving actions the current study plans to undertake.