ABSTRACT

The meaning of “norm” in everyday usage is ambiguous. It often refers to a statistical regularity, as when we say that one’s temperature is “normal” or that a man who has been sick has resumed his “normal” activities. On the other hand, it may indicate an accepted standard or model, as in the phrase “set the norm” or “conform to ethical norms.” In sociology the same ambiguity is found, although ostensibly, at least, when a formal definition is given, the second meaning is stipulated. Thus the term is presumably employed, as is done in the present chapter, to designate any standard or rule that states what human beings should or should not think, say, or do under given circumstances.

From Robert Faris (Ed.), Handbook of Modern Sociology. Copyright © 1964 by Rand McNally and Company. Reprinted by permission of the publisher and the authors. Judith Blake is Associate Professor of Demography and Kingsley Davis is Professor of Sociology, both at the University of California, Berkeley.