4 - 7 PM Social Norms Conference Registration
7:30 - 8:30 AM Conference Registration
7:30 - 8:30 AM Continental Beakfast for Conference Participants
8:30 - 9 AM Introduction and Welcoming Remarks
Mr. Drew Hunter, President/CEO, The BACCHUS Network
9 - 10 :15 AM General Session #1
Title: An Overview of the Conference and the Social Norms Approach
This overview of the conference sessions is designed to familiarize participants with the array of sessions available, and to place the sessions within the broad context of the social norms approach to health promotion as currently employed both here and abroad.
Presenters:
Michael P. Haines, Director, National Social Norms Resource Center
Richard Rice, Coordinator, National Social Norms Resource Center
10:30 - 11:45 AM Breakout Sessions: Block #1
1. Title: Print Media Development and Testing
Presenters:
Koreen Johannessen, MSW, LCSW Senior Advisor for Prevention, The University of Arizona
Andrew J. Maghielse, Graphic Designer, Senior Health Promotion & Preventive Services, Campus Health Service, The University of Arizona
Session Description:
Developing a print media campaign for middle, high school or college populations to broadcast norms sounds simple but may require new skills in data analysis/interpretation, market testing and media placement. In this session we will focus on the "how-to" of message, media development and placement. We will teach practical techniques for assessing campaign elements for a social norms media campaign appropriate to middle, high school and college populations. Market testing techniques demonstrated/discussed will include: focus, and feedback groups, key informant interviews, subject intercepts, and field-testing. Participants can learn to 1) develop a marketing schedule, 2) conduct and organize key informant interviews, 3) create useful market testing reports, 4) organize and conduct a photo shoot, (or choose stock images), 5) work with a graphic designer and 6) choose market testing strategies that fit within your timeline and budget. Materials and reports from the University of Arizona 2005/2006 college sorority specific (a U.S. Department of Education Model Program) and general student body substance abuse prevention social norms campaigns as well as a Tucson charter high school underage drinking prevention project (currently underway in five charter high schools,) will be used to illustrate market testing results.
2. Title: Recent Research and Directions for Social Norms and Prevention
Clayton Neighbors, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington
Session Description:
This session is intended to describe recent findings and current directions in the research literature on etiology and prevention of problem drinking from a social norms perspective. Topics to be discussed will include consideration of how individual factors such as social anxiety and shyness are associated with susceptibility to social norms; the extent to which normative misperceptions generalize across specific events, contexts, and behaviors; and the complexity of injunctive norms relative to descriptive norms. Suggestions for incorporating recent findings and current directions related to these issues to prevention efforts will be discussed in the context of social norms marketing and personalized normative feedback.
3. Title: Setting Norms in Middle Schools Fits with Other Motivational Approaches
Presenter: William Hansen, Ph.D., President, Tanglewood Research
Session Description:
This presentation will discuss how other motivational strategies and even
competency building strategies can bolster the effects of norm setting
approaches. Programs often make fine distinctions about what they target for
change. Motivational strategies often include such topics as building a
perception that desired lifestyles do not fit with risky behaviors and
making personal commitments to avoid risky behaviors. Competency building
strategies often teach skills for making decisions and setting goals. When
used correctly, these approaches can increase an intervention's ability to
establish and reinforce conventional norms. The presentation will review
results from research on middle school students. Implications for how norm
setting programs can be integrated with other efforts will be discussed.
4. Title of Program: Changing Focus: Using NCHA Data and HC 2010 Objectives in a Social Norms Context to Challenge the Environment of High-risk Drinking and Reduce Harm
Program Presenter: Dennis P. Martell, Ph.D., Coordinator, Health Education Services, Michigan State University
Session Description:
Michigan State University's Social Norms project has integrated protective norms as part of their social norms campaign, and has used protective and injunctive norms culturally connected to specific celebratory events. This session will be ideal for participants who are currently involved in a social norms campaign and who are interested in expanding their campaign to include protective behaviors as measured by National College Health Assessment, as well as the use of injunctive norms. Participants who want to use Healthy Campus 2010 as a goal and objective-setting template will be shown how to write these objectives to be consistent with social norms theory. The session will also provides a brief overview of the formative research utilized to initially develop and design the MSU campaign, as well as the ongoing data collection strategies that have been critical to refining the messages and evaluating the campaigns impact, particularly as it relates to use of protective behaviors.
5. Title of Program: Academic Champions Experience (ACE-It): A Model to Enhance Academic Culture at the University of Idaho
Presenters:
Cori Planagan, M.Ed., ACE-it Program Coordinator, University Residences, University of Idaho
Michael Griffel, M.Ed., Director of University Residences and ACE-it Program Director, University of Idaho
Session Description:
ACE-it works to enhance academic culture in Residence Halls, increase Students' GPA, retention and graduation rates at the University of Idaho. ACE-it, using the social norms model at the UI (and partners: Central Washington University, Washington State University and Western Washington University), is funded through a 3-year $330,000 U.S. Department of Education -FIPSE grant. The project has yielded findings regarding academic success behaviors that can be positively affected to increase students' academic outcomes. Results of the ACE-it Survey show that Students perceive that their peers engage less than they actually do, creating a negative peer influence. ACE-it performs intervention strategies to educate students of the actual high levels of student engagement in Academic Success Behaviors. An overview of ACE-it and data results will be presented and discussed.
Noon - 1:30 PM Lunch
Keynote Address:
Linda Hancock, Ph.D., FNP, Assistant Director, Office of Health Promotion, Virginia Commonwealth University
"Passion, Persuasion and Persistence: Insights on the Art (and Science) of Social Norms Practice"
Success with social norms campaigns requires both a philosophy of practice and a sense of humor. This session will describe some of the lessons learned by one practitioner in her decade-long quest to conduct the perfect social norms campaign. "Why make all your own mistakes," she asks, "when you can learn from mine?"
1:45 - 3 PM Breakout Sessions: Block #2
1. Title: Use and Abuse: Effective Design, Implementation, and Data Analysis in Focus Group Interviews (Part 1)
Presenter: Linda C. Lederman, Ph.D., Professor of Health and Human Communication, Arizona State University
Session Description:
This session is the first of a two-session series designed to introduce and/or review fundamental principles of focus group interviews as qualitative research and to distinguish between the use and abuse of the method. The sessions will provide a brief overview of the method; its history and fundamental assumptions; guidelines for the design, implementation, and analysis of focus group data; guidelines for research reports summarizing the findings, and hands-on experience in it application to actual research projects. (Please refer to the handouts printed in this Guidebook for specific topics covered in this session.)
2. Title: The Normative Mirror. Results from an Experiment with Personal Normative Feedback on Tobacco Use among 11 and 12-year-olds in Denmark
Presenters:
Dr. Flemming Balvig, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen
Lars Holmberg, Ph.D., Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen
Session Description:
Results from a randomized experiment on normative misperceptions among 11-12-year-olds in 22 Danish school classes will be presented. Pupils were presented with data on their own exaggerated beliefs about cigarette smoking among their friends and those of their own age and older. Results show that the short intervention (duration 3-4 hours) significantly reduced the treatment group's misperceptions about cigarette smoking and misperceptions about the use of alcohol and drugs as well. This reduction was present a year after the intervention. Furthermore, actual risk behaviour in the treatment group (including use of alcohol and drugs, and criminal behaviour) was reduced. The overall size of the prevention effect was 35 per cent. Possibilities for future prevention schemes and prevention research are discussed.
3. Title: Surveying High School Students for Social Norms
Presenters:
Michael Haines, MS, Director, National Social Norms Resource Center
Greg Barker, Ph.D., Assistant Director for Psychometric Services, Northern Illinois University
Session Description:
Collecting data about a target population is a fundamental necessity of an effective social norms project. This presentation will address many "nuts and bolts" issues related to use of the survey data: data cleaning; determining the norm; developing an array of data-based messages; diagnosing impact; dealing with data and the press; and discussion of the interplay of parent, teacher, and student data. The "Teen Norm Survey (TeeNS) " will be used to provide examples from actual high schools of each point covered. TeeNS is a survey instrument designed specifically for high school norm projects and includes parent and teacher modules that gather data from and develop messages for parents/teachers as well as students. A copy of the survey will be provided, as will a sample Evaluation Summary of data results. Ample time will be allowed for questions.
4. Title: Using Social Norms to Reduce High-Risk Drinking Among College Student-Athletes: Results from a U. S. Department of Education 2005 Model Program
Presenters:
H. Wesley Perkins, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology and Director, HWS Alcohol Education Project, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
David W. Craig, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry and Director, HWS Alcohol Education Project, Department of Chemistry, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Session Description:
This workshop presents strategies to reduce student-athletes' harmful misperceptions of peer drinking norms, promote academic engagement, and reduce high-risk drinking and its consequences. Program components include: 1) an anonymous web-based survey conducted among all student-athletes at the institution, 2) a print, poster and electronic mass-media campaign, 3) a student-athlete peer educator team, 4) training for athletic staff and student-peer educators, and 5) integration of local student-athlete norms into workshops for alcohol policy offenders. Outcomes of a two year intervention include a 1) 46% reduction in the proportion of student-athletes drinking more than once per week, 2) 34% reduction in the proportion of student-athletes experiencing frequent negative consequences due to drinking during the academic term, and 3) an average 2.5 hours per week increase in time spent in academic activities. An offer to other schools wanting to survey student-athletes using this web-based instrument free of charge will be presented.
5. Title: Social Norms Marketing Beyond the Campus: Breaking Down the Barriers to True Campus and Community Partnerships
Presenters:
Michael P. Smith, B.S., M.P.A., Director, Florida Center for Prevention Research
Rick Howell, B.S., M.S., Program Manager at the Florida Center for Prevention Research
Session Description:
This presentation examines the relationship between three independent but mutually supporting science-based programs with the collective aim to reduce high-risk/under-age drinking while improving business community standards and practices. Coupling social norms marketing applications with business improvement strategies focused on responsible hospitality and retailing initiatives were instrumental in reducing high risk drinking by almost 23% between 2002 and 2005. This session will offer participants an opportunity to see how the Campus/Community of Florida State University and Tallahassee, FL embraced Social Norms Marketing, the Hospitality Resource Panel Process and the Responsible Retailing Forum to reduce problem behavior and open new lines of communication among key stakeholders within the community.
3:15- 4:30 PM Breakout Sessions: Block #3
1. Title: Use and Abuse: Effective Design, Implementation, and Data Analysis in Focus Group Interviews (Part 2)
Presenter:
Linda C. Lederman, Ph.D., Professor of Health and Human Communication, Arizona State University
Session Description:
This session is the second of a two-session series designed to introduce and/or review fundamental principles of focus group interviews as qualitative research and to distinguish between the use and abuse of the method. The sessions will provide a brief overview of the method; its history and fundamental assumptions; guidelines for the design, implementation, and analysis of focus group data; guidelines for research reports summarizing the findings, and hands-on experience in it application to actual research projects. (Please refer to the handouts printed in this Guidebook for specific topics covered in this session.)
2. Title: Strangers in Good Company? New Insights into Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Questioning Youth (GLBQ) School Safety Norms
Presenter:
Lauri Turkovsky, Ed.D., Western Massachusetts Center for Healthy Communities
Session Description:
This is a first of its kind study of attitudinal norms about gays, lesbians and bisexuals (GLB) among middle and high school students. Data from a 2005 study of 1,400 8th, 10th and 12th graders' attitudes toward GLB peers will be discussed. Come find out what norms were found among majority heterosexual students, how students perceived their peers' attitudes and what can be done to explore and develop GLB-ally norms among your middle or high school students. Survey questions were designed using a modified action research approach and provide important insights into how GLB youth determine their sense of safety at school. Alternative methodologies for appropriately engaging high school students in research design will be discussed from a "lessons learned" perspective.
3. Title: The ACTUALITY Project in Fort Collins, Colorado This Stuff Really Works!
Presenters:
Scoot Crandall, MSEd, Executive Director, TEAM Fort Collins
Jim Campain, MSW, Student Assistance Coordinator, Poudre School District
Jeni Cross, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Colorado State University
Session Description:
ACTUALITY, The Fort Collins Social Norms Project, brings together a variety of community sectors in order to promote health through innovative social norms campaigns. The project was recently awarded the 2005 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Community Initiative Award in recognition of the successful "Live Large" project that reduced drinking and driving behavior in one local high school. This presentation will focus on the practical skills needed to implement a successful social norms campaign: from idea, to advocacy, to focus groups, to implementation. Data collection and analysis will be presented as well as information gleaned from an experienced coalition working "in the trenches" and making progress.
4. Title: How to Creatively Use Immediate Feedback Technology to Improve Social Norms Marketing Interventions
Presenter:
Linda Hancock, FNP, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Office of Health Promotion, Virginia Commonwealth University
Session Description:
This workshop will provide hands-on experience using an immediate feedback technology called the Classroom Performance System (CPS) or "clickers in the classroom." Clickers are hand-held devices that look like TV remotes. They are used with a laptop and can provide immediate feedback to the group displayed in a viewable bar graph. This session will provide an overview of this increasingly affordable and portable technology. It will describe how it might be in a wide variety of tasks in social marketing including: media balloting, focus group testing, small group social norming interventions and in improving credibility of the social norms message. Pilot research results of a small group norming intervention with freshmen and college athletes will also be shared.
4:30 - 6 PM Conference Reception for all Participants
Here's your opportunity to meet and informally socialize with other attendees and presenters. A popular feature of the conference, the reception is an excellent place to network, , to talk with your colleagues, and to meet some of the leading researchers and practitioners in the field.
9 - 10:15 AM Breakout Sessions: Block 4
1. Title: Survey Methods and Planning: Critical Issues
Presenter:
Greg Barker, Ph.D., Assistant Director for Psychometric Services, Northern Illinois University
Session Description:
The management of an effective social norms project presents numerous challenges, one of which is the selection and proper administration of a valid and reliable survey. This session will focus on many of the critical, how-to details involved in this process, such as: clearly establishing the goals of your project; selecting and consistently following a sound methodology for survey administration, including the who, what, when, and where of sampling; and establishing a checklist for, and effectively implementing, proper logistical planning for survey administration and analysis. Specific, real world examples will be provided that clearly demonstrate the critical importance of these issues. Although designed primarily for those who may be relatively new to survey research, this session will also be beneficial for those who have had some experience in this area. Ample time will be allowed for questions and discussion.
2. Title Using Social Judgment Theory in a Social Norms Campaign
Presenter:
Sandi W. Smith, Ph.D., Director, Health and Risk Communication Center, Professor, Department of Communication, Michigan State University
Session Description:
This program explores the use of Social Judgment Theory principles in a Social Norms campaign. The development and analyses of Ordered Alternative Scales will be taught. The assessment of these scales will show which perceived norms of the population of interest are in the latitudes of acceptance, rejection, or non-commitment. Participants will practice creation of messages, and the determination of expected persuasion results for messages in each latitude will be explored.
3. Title: Stevens Point Wisconsin Area Senior High (SPASH) Social Norms: A Successful Intervention to Promote the Health of High School Students
Presenters:
Chuck Graham, M.S., School Psychologist & District AODA/Title V Coordinator
Jerry Gargulak, M.S., SPASH School Psychologist
Denise Enders, B.S., SPASH Social Norms Coordinator
Session Description:
Begun in 2004, the Stevens Point Wisconsin Area High School (SPASH) Social Norms Project uses a normative theoretical approach and marketing strategies to correct students' misperceptions of peer alcohol & other drug use. A key component of the project has been the inclusion of parents and school staff as well, since data indicate that they overestimate student ATOD use as well. Marketing strategies have included posters, cinema and radio ads, giveaways, and other advertisements. To date, the project has achieved high exposure to normative messages, moderate reductions in nearly every perception measure, a matched pattern of change in student behavior, and an increase in the prevalence of true norm statements communicated by parents. This session will describe the history of the project, present sample media, and present an analysis of project outcome data to date.
4. Title: Results from a Study Measuring Late Night Blood Alcohol Levels in a Residential College
Presenter:
David W. Craig, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry and Director, HWS Alcohol Education Project, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Session Description:
At Hobart and William Smith Colleges, more than 1,400 random late-night blood alcohol tests with matched surveys have been conducted every night of the week spanning every month of the school year. 61% of students sampled had a BAC level of 0.00 g/dL and 76% were at 0.05g/dL or less. Very strong social norms messages can be developed from these data to bolster the credibility of self-report based media campaigns. Protocols for data collection, sample BAC distributions broken down by gender and school night/weekend night, accuracy of perceived BAC levels by students, and an assessment of the agreement of measured BAC levels with estimated BAC levels from self report survey data with will be presented.
5. Title: Montana's MOST Of Us Don't Drink & Drive Campaign: A Successful Strategy to Reduce Impaired Driving in Young Adults
Presenters:
Jeff Linkenbach, EdD., Director, Most of Us Social Norms Project
H. Wesley Perkins, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology and Director, HWS Alcohol Education Project, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Session Description:
The MOST of Us Prevent Drinking and Driving Campaign was the first demonstration of the potential for applying social norms theory to large, heterogeneous, statewide populations. With funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT), a 15-month controlled media campaign was carried out in a 15-county intervention area in the western portion of Montana. This quasi-experimental intervention exposed the selected counties to high doses of the social norms message, and then compared the resulting changes in perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors with those in the control counties. Compared to data from the control counties, results among young adults in the targeted counties showed:
Noon - 1:30 PM Lunch
Hot Topics and Emerging Issues: Questions and Answers
A panel of noted experts and practitioners will briefly address questions and comments solicited from conference participants. Here is your chance to get answers to questions that you've been dying to ask.
Moderator: Mr. Richard Rice, Coordinator of Information and Education, National Social Norms Resource Center
Panelists (in alphabetical order):
Mr. Michael P. Haines, Director, National Social Norms Resource Center
Dr. Linda Hancock, Assistant Director, Office of Health Promotion, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dr. William Hansen, President, Tanglewood Research
Ms. Koreen Johannessen, Senior Advisor for Prevention, The University of Arizona
Dr. Jeffrey Linkenbach, Director of the MOST Of Us Campaigns, Montana State University
Dr. H. Wesley Perkins, Professor of Sociology, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Dr. James Turner, Executive Director, Student Health, University of Virginia