The Social Norms Research Agenda

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There is global interest in better understanding and applying social-norms-shifting approaches to improve the reproductive health and wellbeing of adolescents and youth. Developed by the Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH)'s Passages Project (2015-2022), the Social Norms Research Agenda (SNRA) provides a roadmap of consensus-driven research priorities for building practical evidence on social norms approaches to improve adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH). This document details the background of the product, the process for developing it, and next steps for its dissemination and use to spur future innovation and investment.

The SNRA:

• Intends to improve healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy by addressing social norms affecting adolescents and youth (age 10 to 24) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs);
• Recognises that gender norms are a subset of social norms and that there is a need to be adaptable to diverse cultural contexts with differing social structures and networks;
• Applies a diversified style of investing in research question concepts and contexts, which aims to achieve research outputs within the next 10 years; and
• Prioritises research that:
  • Produces evidence about norm shifting interventions (NSIs);
  • Reaches those with greatest need and particular vulnerabilities (e.g., minorities, girls with disabilities, etc.); and
  • Centres the participation and locally defined needs of adolescents and youth and their communities.

The SNRA was developed through a 9-step process, outlined in the document, which was spearheaded by:

• A Stewardship Group: A small group of researchers from the IRH at Georgetown University and the Center on Gender Equity and Health (GEH) at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), along with key advisors from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID);
• The Expert Group: A group of 40 experts, invited by the Stewardship Group, from both high-income countries (HIC) and LMICs, working in AYSRH, including programme implementers, researchers, policymakers, donors, and Social Norms Learning Collaborative members, who provided input into the development of a survey to crowdsource global opinions; and
• The Stakeholder Group: A group of nearly 200 stakeholders invited by the Expert and/or Stewardship Groups to participate in scoring research questions, suggesting additional research questions, and providing feedback on the final agenda.

Four domains were used to organise research questions based on Passages legacy areas. These domains, which were used to brainstorm, score, and analyse research questions, included: (i) understanding norms and their influence; (ii) designing & implementing NSIs; (iii) enhancing monitoring & evaluation of NSIs; and (iv) adapting, scaling & sustaining NSIs. An online survey was administered to global stakeholders in June 2022 to score research questions. Priority scores were then used to create a draft research agenda focusing on questions with the highest priority scores across and within each of the four domains.

Across a diverse set of stakeholders, priority questions focus primarily on the design, implementation, monitoring, adapting, and scaling of NSIs, rather than on building knowledge around norms. Thus, the result of this process, detailed in the document, is that, as a global community, research will be prioritised that builds evidence on:

1. Effective strategies to shift social norms;
2. Practical and valid indicators to monitor norms shifting;
3. Best practices for adapting NSIs; and
4. Approaches to scale-up of NSIs.

Across these priorities, the global community will also seek to understand the best approaches to meaningfully engage youth in research, as well as cultural considerations and influence on norms shifting.

As outlined here, this agenda-building process suggests that "the global community agrees that social norms matter for AYSRH, and recommends building evidence on:

• Effective approaches to shift norms
• Feasible and rigorous approaches to monitor these normative shifts
• Adaptation and scale-up approaches to translate impact to the population level

Finally, there is continued interest, across priorities, in exploring and documenting cultural considerations of norms-shifting, how to engage youth effectively and the impact of effective youth engagement on norms-shifting efforts."

Editor's note: Also available is a webinar recording presenting the final results of the SNRA. Click on the video below to watch it in English and/or click here to watch it in French.