Here, in alphabetical order, are a number of web-based resources that provide useful information for those using the social norms approach to promote health and wellness.


The Alcohol Education Project
This site, based at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, provides an extensive collection of education and research initiatives designed to better inform students and school and college personnel about alcohol and other drugs and to address problems of abuse. Co-directors of the project are Drs. H. Wesley Perkins and David Craig. Among the topics covered are:

  • Consultation/Dissemination for Higher Education
  • Secondary Education Initiative and Support
  • Social Norms Surveys Online
  • Social Norms 101 Primer
  • MVP (Most Valuable Player) Athlete Project
  • Campaign to Reduce Misperceived Norms
  • Posters and Poster Campaign
  • Web-based Normative Message Campaign
  • Use of Electronic Multimedia in a Social Norms Prevention Program

The BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network
The BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network is an international association of college and university-based peer education programs focusing on alcohol abuse prevention and other student health and safety issues.
Contents of this site include:

  • Network Directory
  • Research and Statistics
  • Event Calendar
  • Online copies of the publication The Peer Educator

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is the world’s largest, on-going telephone health survey system, tracking health conditions and risk behaviors in the United States yearly since 1984. Established in 1984 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the BRFSS is a state-based system of health surveys that collects information on health risk behaviors, preventive health practices, and health care access primarily related to chronic disease and injury. For many states, the BRFSS is the only available source of timely, accuate data on health-related behaviors.

The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP)
The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) Technical Assistance Services to Communities is a unique federally funded program designed to disseminate information, increase dialog, and promote community empowerment to combat alcohol and other drug problems. The project is one component of the CSAP Training System, which provides training and technical assistance to professionals and volunteers working to prevent alcohol, tobacco, and other drug problems in the communities and workplaces nationwide. The types of assistance offered include: On-Site Technical Assistance, Off-Site Technical Assistance, and Expert Speakers. A CSAP contact form is available at this site.

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention (HEC): Social Norms and Social Marketing
Presents an extensive collection of information and resources on the social norms approach and social marketing.
Contents include:

  • "The Social Norms Approach: Theory and Research," by Alan Berkowitz, Ph.D.
  • Frequently Asked Questions about social norms and social marketing
  • References and Resources (HEC publications, web sites, etc.)
  • Descriptive listing of campuses with social norms interventions
  • Discussion of research and evaluation of Social Norms Campaigns
  • Application of the social norms approach to violence
  • Description of the Education Development Center's (EDC) Social Norms Marketing Campaign

The Inter-Association Task Force on Alcohol and Other Substance Abuse Issues (IATF)
Founded in 1983 by BACCHUS of the U.S., Inc., the Inter-Association Task Force on Alcohol and Other Substance Abuse Issues is an umbrella organization dedicated to promoting education, prevention, research, networking and national initiatives to help eliminate substance abuse and the problems it causes on our college and university campuses.
Contents of this site include:

  • Proclamation against binge drinking terminology
  • Model Alcohol Policies
  • Recommendations and Guidelines Regarding Collegiate Alcohol Abuse
MOST of Us
Most of Us is a research project in the Department of Health and Human Development at Montana State University-Bozeman that strives to produce social change through a variety of innovative, science-based methods. Using social science research, technology, and marketing, its projects achieve positive, measurable results. The MOST of Us project has achieved statistically significant behavioral shifts among target groups with regard to issues as diverse as seatbelt use, DUI and tobacco use prevention. Since its creation in 1998, the MOST of Us project has established new uses of the social norms approach. It conducted the first statewide application of social norms marketing and initiated the use of social norms with tobacco and seatbelt use on a wide scale.

Social Norms Research UK

The aim of Social Norms Research UK is to promote the investigation of these processes in the UK population, to establish if social norms interventions can be as succcessful as they appear to have been in the United States. Social Norms Research UK is directed by Dr. John McAlaney, Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Dr. John McMahon, Senior Lecturer at the University of West Scotland.

Social Norms Surveys Online

This web site features online survey tools for implementing and assessing social norms evaluations.

Youth Health and Safety: the Social Norms Approach

This web site provides detailed information about gathering credible data, and the applicability of the social norms approach to an array of youth health and safety issues, such as alcohol and drug misuse, weight norms, and bullying behaviors.

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