Perceived Social Norms

Social norms are one of the most powerful determinants of the human behaviour. People who believe (or know) that the majority of their friends or wider community members practice a certain behaviour are more likely to do the same. The indicator therefore measures the proportion of people who believe that the majority of their friends and community members currently follow the behaviour in question.

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with a representative sample of the target group members:

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTION (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

Q1: Do you think that most of your friends [specify the behaviour]?

A1: yes / no / doesn’t know

Q2: Do you think that most of the [specify the people – e.g. “people of your age”, “young men”] living in this area [specify the behaviour]?

A2: yes / no / doesn’t know

To calculate the indicator’s value, divide the number of respondents who replied “yes” to both questions by the total number of respondents (exclude those who did not know). Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage.

Disaggregate the data depending on your target group and the focus of your intervention.

1) Report also separately the % of people who believe that the majority of their friends follow the behaviour and the % of people who believe that the majority of the community members follow the behaviour (the “community members” needs to be defined more specifically, as we know many behaviours are frequently practiced by only a certain group of people, such as smallholder farmers or husbands).

2) Social norms are usually a more complex matter that should not be explored through quantitative surveys only. As much as possible, conduct formative research to gain a more detailed understanding of the social norms that affect the promoted behaviours.