28 Framing, Word Choice, and Biases
Core Curriculum and Christina Frasier
Learning Objectives
- Understand how word choices and biases impact language.
- Distinguish between fair and unfair rhetorical appeals
- Differentiate between language used to manipulate and language used to inform or persuade appropriately.
Framing, Word Choice, and Biases
A good argument provides sufficient justification for us to change the way we think, believe, or act. That is the art of persuasion. We expect to be treated as critical thinkers who can make reasonable decisions based upon the facts, our emotional responses, and connection to the speaker. However, there are times when a speaker may use hidden means of persuasion to try to convince us. Two common strategies are framing and word choice. Think of framing as a way to change meaning by manipulating the perspective, just as the frame around a picture influences the way we see it. For example, an optimist is said to see a glass as half full while the pessimist sees it as half empty. This view of the world is simply a matter of perspective as the glass is the same. It depends upon the context.
The context will also determine whether the purpose of a paper or speech is to persuade or inform. The speaker or writer must choose language that is specific to the topic, purpose, and audience. For example, lawyers, politicians, opinion journalists, and advertisers are expected to advocate particular points of view, so the audience will expect a considerable amount of framing in the way they present an issue. An audience will tend to give these communicators substantially more leeway in this regard than it might give to others who are expected to report rather than advocate. As such, an audience will hold news sources to a higher standard of neutrality than writers of opinion pieces such as op-eds; and an audience may reject outright “push polls” or any survey or study that appears biased or whose methodology does not meet a scientific standard.
It is not always readily apparent at which points someone is simply intending to inform versus the points at which he is attempting to persuade. But understanding the context and being aware of the implications of language choice should help you to recognize hidden persuasion and to evaluate whether the author of the argument you are analyzing has chosen language appropriate to the topic, purpose, and audience. We will expand on the concepts of framing, word choice, and bias by exploring the answers to the following questions:
- How do effective communicators choose language for their arguments?
- What uses of language are inappropriate?
- What is propaganda?
- How can I tell if language is being used as a tool for audience manipulation?
- What is framing bias?
- What is confirmation bias?
- What can I learn about fallacies from advertising?
- When can I trust a poll or survey?
- How does scientific sampling lead to credible premises?
- How can reliance on scientific reasoning re