Sociologists distinguish between the terms “norm,” “normal,” and “normative.”
The norm refers to what is common or frequent. For example, for Christian Americans, celebrating Christmas is the norm.
Normal is opposed to abnormal. Even though celebrating Christmas is the norm, it is not abnormal to celebrate Hanukkah. To celebrate Hanukkah is perfectly normal.
In contrast to both of these, normative refers to a morally-endorsed ideal. Americans may think that you should celebrate the Fourth of July because it is patriotic to do so. Celebrating U.S. Independence may be both the norm and normative in the U.S. Many things that are not the norm are nonetheless normative. For example, a nuclear family with a married man and woman and their biological children is normative in the U.S., but it is certainly not the norm.
I thought of these distinctions when I looked at a submission by Andrew, who blogs at Ethnographer. Bike lanes in Philadelphia used to be designated with this figure:
Today, however, they’re designated by this one:
Do you see the difference? The new figures are wearing bike helmets. The addition is normative. It suggests that bikers should be wearing bike helmets. It may or may not be the norm, and it certainly isn’t normal or abnormal either way, but the city of Philadelphia is certainly attempting to make helmets normative.
