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A web-based instrument to model social norms.

Article Excerpt
Surveys and focus groups are well known methods for ascertaining public perceptions and opinion. The general view is that such tools provide reasonably accurate reflections of public opinion and values, and that the norms employed by people to make decisions are fixed. But what about issues where the public needs to consider novel choices and where no prior experience can be drawn on? Do their preferences and beliefs change when presented with new options and new information? Recent evidence suggests that they do and this paper describes an alternative way of gathering data, which takes into account the dynamic nature of social norms in response to new technologies and their applications. It also discusses the problem with traditional methods of generating information about public opinion and offers a possible solution.

It is widely held that surveys and focus groups are reasonably accurate methods. This accuracy is enhanced if the topic is familiar to respondents, and the heuristics used to make decisions are fixed. However, in the case...

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