Applied ethics looks at real life situations and applies them to things such as laws and policies that concern ethics. Basically the practical application of ethical theory. It asks questions such as "What are human rights?" and "Do animals have rights as well?"
An example of applied ethics would be the issue of using euthanasia on patients who are on their death bed that want to end their lives before it gets too painful.
This relates to one of the ten commandments in the content; Thou shall not kill. Are different types of taking a life good depending on the circumstances?
Another example of applied ethics would be the issue of wage gaps between men and women. Should each gender get paid the same for the same job? or does it depend on a factor that is uncontrollable.
This can be related to Buddhism's Eightfold path. Samma-Sati or Right Mindfulness, an aspect of it says to be fully aware of people around you. Are men with a pay advantage aware of the wage gap? should they follow Samma-Sati and make themselves aware of their privilege.
If you study ethics I don't think it necessarily sets you up for understanding what is morally true. We can study right or wrong and look at why we choose what is just but the fact is we don't really know, I think that it is just a gut feeling when the action or issue is happening. If there are moral truths then I think they would be instinctual rather than something you have to study in order to get right. If we do have to study what makes something right or wrong, I think it should be a right to understand that instead of going off normative ethics and what we are told by society what is right. I think if the rules of moral society are universal across all societies that it makes me more insecure when making a decision because of the pressure to make the 'right' one. In contrast, when you understand that the rules are not universal it decreases the pressure to make the 'right' decision. With the understanding of philosophical ethics I think it makes it easier to make to understand the choice, and gives you insight into what matters when making it. I wouldn't say it makes it easier but it definitely helps me make a more educated decision.
Metaethics is the study of the foundations of morality. It looks at what constitutes the rightness or wrongness of an action and where our principals of morality come from. It asks questions like "What does morality even mean?" and "Are there moral truths?"
An example of metaethics would be questioning moral truths. Is there a moral truth or does our culture and society define what we see as ethical? Metaethics is an abstract concept and it's hard to define real life examples of it other than what metaethics questions and the nature of it. In my opinion, the concept of a single moral truth is non-existent. All of what we deem as ethical is decided based on factors like religion, culture and government.
Another example of Metaethics is how me define a 'just' person. In different societies the definition of justice is ambiguous and depends on the nature of the government and the needs of society. Another factor would be the ethics that the culture has and how they define a 'just' way to punish an 'unjust' person.
Normative ethics is concerned with the criteria of what makes an action right or wrong. The main question that normative ethics is asking is how do moral standards come to be and how are they justified?
An example of a statement that concerns normative ethics is 'Murder is wrong'. This concerns normative ethics because this statement is normalized by society and we all have agreed murder is the worst crime.
Another example of normative ethics would be if you donate to charity it is good, but you're not morally obligated to do so. This concerns normative ethics because we have established that donating to societal issues is good, but if you don't then that's okay as well.