For the past three years, Palo Alto High School students have collectively spent thousands of hours taking the "Most of Us" social norming survey.

Despite the significance suggested by the amount of time that it has taken, many students think of it as little more than a waste of half an hour a year that produces often-distrusted statistics.

So why do we bother? What is this "social norming" thing that "Most of Us" is about? Who is involved in conducting the survey and disseminating results? How much respect is it receiving, and what effect is it having? Whose idea was it, anyway?

"Social norms marketing is based on the central concept of social norms theory – that much of people’s behavior is influenced by their perceptions of what is ‘normal’ or ‘typical’," states the "Most of Us" Web site, http://www.mostofus.org. By ensuring students are aware of how uncommon certain unhealthy activities are, the risk of students participating is reduced.

To gather data on perceived and actual behaviors for use in social norms campaign, an anonymous electronic survey is given to students during class. This year’s survey contained 39 questions on topics including drugs, alcohol, body image, and honesty.

The Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Palo Alto Unified School District’s five middle and high schools, and the "Most of Us" organization, located at Montana Sate University, collaborated to conduct the survey. Becky Beacom, who works at the medical foundation, organized the survey throughout the district, while parents, like Paly’s Christine Shambora, locally organized the campaign at just their own schools.

Gary Lande, senior research fellow for "Most of Us," is responsible for analyzing results for all five Palo Alto secondary schools, Beacom said. Lande has taught courses on topics including "research" and "media studies," and "has been extensively involved in the effects of media on youth," the "Most of Us" Web site states.

According to Beacom, Valerie Roche, the program manager at "Most of Us," wrote the "Key Findings" report which was released to parents, teachers, and journalists. According to the "Most of Us" Web site, Roche has a master’s degree in fine arts and "has a decade of experience as a writer and editor."

According to Beacom and Shambora, the survey’s roots are in 2002 concerns that superintendent of schools Mary Frances Callahan and then-police chief Patrick Dwyer had about children, drugs and alcohol. The meeting was prompted by "a ‘high profile incident’ at one of the high schools," Beacom wrote. "They thought incidents were on the increase … It is important to note that there was no hard evidence to support this. … Still, the concern was there, and obviously it resounded within the community." A committee, formed to look into the issue, selected the "Most of Us" approach.

So far, the campaign’s effectiveness has been limited. The data on student use of drugs and alcohol has not changed much over the course of the three-year campaign, Beacom said. However, student perceptions of what is common have become closer to the actual norms.

According to Beacom, the lack of change in drug and alcohol use data isn’t entirely unexpected. "We haven’t done a social norms campaign in the way our value model shows," Beacom said. Next year, however, the results should be publicized more. "We’re already preparing for next year," Shambora said, adding that there would be Frisbees on field day and pencils for STAR testing as part of the publicity.

The survey organizers have an uphill battle in convincing students to change their habits on the basis of the survey results. According to survey data Beacom gave The Paly Voice, only 38 percent of Paly students found the posters and publications based on the "Most of Us" survey data to be somewhat or very believable, whereas 29 percent found them to be somewhat unbelievable, or not believable at all. About 4 percent fewer students found it unbelievable in 2006 versus in 2005, and 4 percent more found it believable, showing a positive trend. "Most of Us" received the lowest rates of any of the dozen sources that were asked about. The next lowest are religious leaders, news media, and student publications, each at around 45 percent believability. Health personnel are considered to be the most reliable, with 85 percent believability.

The organizers, however, feel that the data is accurate. "It would be statistically impossible for kids to be lying," Shambora said, because the graphs of prevalence of many of the activities asked about are very similar between Paly and Gunn and throughout the years that the survey has been conducted. In order to prevent dishonesty, the survey also includes three filters that can cause survey responses to be thrown out, and analysts later search for conflicting responses and strange patterns, according to Beacom. Eighty result sets were thrown out this year, leaving 1337 valid surveys, representing 80% of Paly, according to survey data.

Students have been disappointed at how little data has been released. Part of the reason full data is not released lies in fear of misuse. "Everyone involved in this project feels an obligation to limit having this data be used in another forum of bashing on students," Beacom wrote in an email to the Voice. After Palo Alto Weekly reporters attended a meeting for parents focusing on teen parties, alcohol use, and other related topics, the Weekly "selected only the negative data for their article," despite having received a document containing "a great deal of both disconcerting and very reassuring data," Beacom said. "This [articles focusing on those engaging in risky behavior] is at the heart of why people overestimate their peers’ … involvement with substance abuse." As a result, Beacom is reluctant to release all of the data.