DDO Should also Use My Voting Standards Guide

Round 2 is for rebuttals and closing statements. DDO Voting Standards Guide by emmarie The reason that DDO has Voting Standards is so that debates are judged on specific unbiased criteria. Your vote is not only needed to determine a winner of a debate, but to help debaters understand their strengths and or weaknesses. Good RFDs (Reasons for Decisions) can help debaters improve by providing them with a constructive evaluation of their skill level. The Instigator of a debate can choose two options for how a debate can be voted on. RFD’s are required for all votes that are cast, (when comments are enabled)! The Instigator also has the option of chooseing whether to allow members to vote on the debate (open) or to choose specific judges to vote on the debate. Option 1 - Select Winner (Win, Lose, or Tie) If the Instigator chooses this option voters will be given the options of Win, Lose, or Tie. An RFD still needs to be written, to explain why the vote was cast for the winner as well as why the loser lost, or if it was a tie, why that decision was chosen. Option 2 - Seven Point System If the Instigator chooses this option voters will be expected to vote using a 7 Point Voting Standard. Make sure you include in your RFD a specific explanation for each point you award. Conduct Point - 1 point awarded against a contestant for forfeiting more than half of total rounds or for blatantly rude comments or insults directed at the opponent. (Include in RFD if you award this point and explain why you awarded it. ) Spelling and Grammar Point - 1 point - only award this point if one contestant clearly shows superiority over the opponent. (again, explain why you awarded this point in RFD) *Argument Points* - 3 points are awarded based on the Equations for Awarding Arguments Points guide, listed below the sample ballot. Sources Points - 2 points can be awarded to the contestant who supplied the best sources, or if one contestant failed to supply links or sources. Sample Ballot Pro Tied Con Who did you agree with before the debate? 0 pts. Who did you agree with after the debate? 0 pts. Who had better conduct? 1 pt. Who had better spelling and grammar? 1 pt. Who made more convincing arguments? 3 pts. Who used the most reliable sources? 2 pts. In the next section of the Voting Standards Guide, I will explain how the BoP correlates to who has the burden of proof of the resolution. Some members of DDO will tell you that the BoP is always equally shared while others will tell you that the BoP always falls on the Instigator, since he or she is initiating the debate. My formulas show how the BoP can only be shared if the resolution statement is a positive statement. I haven’t come up with formulas for the BoP when the resolution is in the form of a question, but I gather that would be an instance where the BoP is shared, since one can answer it in more than one way. BoP/Burden of Proof Equations for Awarding *Argument Points* When the Instigator Takes the Pro (for) Position of the Resolution in a Debate Instigator + Pro Contender - Con Resolution + Positive Statement = BoP equally shared Instigator + Pro Contender - Con Resolution - Negative Statement + BoP on Pro Pro needs claims that support resolution. Con needs to argue to negate Pro’s claims. Con should also make counter claims that weaken Pro’s claims. Pro needs to defend original claims after Con’s rebuttal and argue against any counterclaims by Con Pro needs claims that negate resolution. Con needs to argue to against Pro’s claims to win. . Con can make counter claims that weaken Pro’s claims but doesn’t have to. Pro needs to defend original claims after Con’s rebuttal and argue against any counterclaims by Con to win. When the Instigator Takes the Con (against) Position of the Resolution in a Debate Instigator - Con Contender + Pro Resolution + Positive Statement = BoP equally shared Instigator - Con greater responsibility Contender + Pro Resolution - Negative Statement + BoP on Con Con needs claims that argue against the resolution. Pro needs to argue against Cons claims to win. Pro needs claims that support resolution. Con needs to defend original claims and rebutt Pro’s claims. Con needs claims that affirm the opposite of the stated resolution. Pro needs to argue against Con’s claims to win. Pro need not make counter claims that affirm a negative resolution. Con needs to not only defend original claims but also refute pro’s rebuttals. Positive and Negative Resolution Statements Positive Resolution Statements BoP is always equally shared. This is because the Instigator who writes the resolution has the first chance to support a positive resolution as pro or the first chance to argue against a positive resolution as Con. This leaves the contender with an equal BoP since he has to argue for or against the resolution and Pro’s claims as well as make counterclaims of his/her own. Negative Resolution Statements BoP is always on the instigator of a resolution that is a negative statement because he/she presents arguments first and the contender can’t negate a negative resolution without affirming a resolution that is the opposite of the stated resolution, or affirm a negative resolution without negating the resolution itself. The Contender’s goal when the resolution is a negative statement is to refute the Instigators claim, not necessarily make claims of their own. Equating BoP A formula for deciding who has a greater BoP (burden of proof) is calculated by using specific criteria. Understanding BoP can help you contemplate how to argue in your own debates as well as help you to determine a winner in debates that you vote on. Some Claim that BoP is always shared but that is mathematically impossible given the positions of the Instigator/Con (sequential order); who is Pro/Con, and whether or not the resolution is a positive or a negative statement. This formula Can help you decide who satisfied affirming or negating the resolution thru claims, counterclaims and rebuttals. The reason that I say a negative statement is not shared is because when the Instigator makes a negative statement it implies the contender (if Con) will have to disprove a negative statement which becomes a double negative - meaning that the Contender would have to support the opposite of the resolution. We are supposed to be arguing the resolution not the opposite of the resolution. Con's position when a resolution is negative should be to refute Pro, since making counter claims supports the opposite of the resolution and places the burden of the arguments on Con. The Instigator may have set up a debate in this matter, to attempt to get Con to support the opposite of the resolution and then argue against it rather than making his/her own arguments. When the Instigator takes the Con position of a negative position - he is actually supporting the resolution, but may set up the debate in a way that attempts to place the BoP on the contender, who would be forced to make arguments that oppose the resolution, rather than refuting Pro. Many of the ideas about debate on this website are founded on what high school students learned on their debate teams. The BoP should be on the instigator - but in positive statements, it could be shared. I say this because opposing a positive statement (Con) and proving it through rebutting the Instigator results in the negation of the resolution. Counterclaims are also warranted when the resolution is a positive statement more so than a negative statement because of the double negative factor that I discussed. When an instigator makes a positive resolution statement and takes the Con position, it differs from the instigator taking the Pro position of a negative statement. This is because the instigator is the one making the Claim and also has the choice of taking the con position, In doing so it forces the Contender to give supportive arguments to to the resolution and thus the BoP can be considered to be shared. *sources* The reason that I am posting this as a debate topic, is because bluesteel’s Voting Guide is written in such a negative tone, that it is uninviting to readers and includes little information about what specific criteria to look for in a debate. Bsh1’s Guide for the 7 point system is a more in depth analysis of what to include in and RFD than my Voting Standards Guide is, but fails to address what criteria should be used when deciding who has the BoP to satisfy proving, rebutting or disproving a resolution. . http://www.debate.org...... . http://www.debate.org...; . https://docs.google.com...... I came up with the BoP Equations for Awarding Argument Points, to give a clear understanding of what the job is of the Instigator and the Contender in a debate, depending on whether or not the resolution is a positive or a negative statement, as well as who takes the Pro and Con positions. I copied, edited and pasted an actual voting ballot from a DDO debate, to show how many points are awarded in each category. I challenge my opponent to disprove my BoP Equations for Awarding Argument Points, and look forward to a meaningful debate.