Common Types of Issues in Society

Social, Moral, and Economic Issues

• Social issues prevent society from functioning at its most desirable level and involve people in the society, are recognized by the public as a problem, and can be alleviated through joint actions of citizens.
• Social issues can be identified when a large segment of the population sees the situation as a valid concern.

Moral Issues

• Moral issues are situations or actions that do not conform to the shared norms and values, culture, and beliefs of a community or social setting.
• Moral issues arise when a situation or action goes against the values, beliefs, and preferences of the people in the society.
• Moral issues can lead to behavior patterns that bring the individual repeatedly into conflict with the society or involve actions that harm others or the person themselves.

Economic Issues

• Economic issues are situations that reflect the scarcity of resources, which are deemed insufficient to satisfy human wants and needs.
• Economic issues can be identified when they involve inflation, an increase in unemployment, or poverty caused by underlying factors such as lack of education, cultural and religious discrimination, overpopulation, unemployment, and corruption.

Bias in Writing

• Bias refers to an author's expression of their own opinion on a particular issue without examining and presenting enough evidence.
• An author becomes biased when they persuade the reader to believe their own stand on the issue by giving inaccurate information or false impressions.
• To determine an author's biases, look for evidence such as facts, information, testimonies, direct observations, scientific and legal findings, and anecdotes.

Propaganda Techniques

• Propaganda is a form of communication aimed at influencing attitudes, perspectives, and emotions by presenting only one side of an argument.
• Types of propaganda techniques include:
  • Card Stacking: showing a product's best features, telling half-truths, and omitting potential problems.
  • Name-calling: linking a person or idea to a negative symbol.
  • Plain Folks: using common people to sell or promote a product or service.
  • Glittering Generalities: using words or ideas that evoke a positive emotional response.
  • Soft Soap: using flattery or insincere compliments to get the audience on the speaker's side.
  • Bandwagon: persuading people by showing them that everyone else is doing the same thing.
  • Testimonial: using a famous or authoritative person to recommend a product or service.
  • Transfer: projecting positive or negative qualities of a person, entity, object, or value to another.
  • Simplification: reducing crucial issues to basic ideas and packaging them with catchy slogans and images.
  • Loaded Words: using words to influence an audience by using emotional appeal or stereotypes that cannot be supported by concrete evidence.

Identifying Social, Moral, and Economic Issues

• An issue is an important problem or topic that people in the society argue about or discuss since it negatively affects many people in the society.
• Issues can be social, moral, or economic, and can be identified by looking at the effects they have on society and the people within it.