Studying a Social Norm

This article describes a classroom activity in which students identify and graphically represent a group's norm. Students take a survey of peers' attitudes toward a target behavior and variations of it. Mean responses for each question are computed and graphed. The resulting curve illustrates the group's approval and disapproval of the target behavior, the strength of this approval or disapproval, the ideal behavior, and the range of tolerable behavior. This activity helps students understand and appreciate survey research methods, the need for controlled research, and the power of a peer-group norm.