M&E of the Intangible: Resources on Social Norms

Social norms have risen significantly in profile amongst those working on behavior change related to gender, female genital mutilation, public health, child marriage and increasingly corruption. With the increase in attention comes the difficulty of determining how to monitor and evaluate (M&E) change. By Dhaval Kothari Unlike behaviors, social norms are intangible and invisible, making simplistic checklists inadequate. M&E of social norms must take into account injunctive norms, descriptive norms and sanctions at a minimum. (To learn more about the components of social norms see pages 25-27 in Understanding Social Norms: A Reference Guide for Policy and Practice.) As a [...]