Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), in partnership with the Golden Key National Honor Society (Golden Key) promised a true study to evaluate the effectiveness of """"""""Just the Facts"""""""" (JTF), a social norms marketing campaign already developed and pilot-tested by campus-based chapters of Golden Key.
The specific aims of the study are (1) to establish whether the JTF campaign corrects students' perceptions of the number of their peers who engage in high-risk alcohol consumption; (2) to test the hypothesis that the campaign, when , when successfully implemented, will lead to lower rates of high-risk (binge) drinking among college students; to establish whether the campaign has this impact on behavior through its effect on normative expectations about drinking; and (4) to explore the potential impact of the campaign in creating student support for campus- and community-based policy change. Major steps involved in executing this five-year study include the following: (1) IN February of Year 1, conduct random sample baseline student surveys at 16 experimental and 16 control schools to establish initial rates of high risk drinking, which are to be used as a comparison with post-intervention data. These data will be collected by means of specially developed version of the Core Institute Alcohol and Drug Survey. (2) During Years 2-4 implement and monitor a highly visible social norms marketing campaign on 16 experimental group campuses, working in partnership with individual Golden Key chapters. (3) During Years 2-4, execute a thorough process evaluation of the JTF campaign on each campus, both to assure program fidelity and to establish a basis on which to conduct comparative analyses of program effectiveness. The process evaluation will also include a diary of significant events on campus and in the surrounding community that might have an impact on student drinking behavior. (4) In February of Years 2-4, conduct random sample student surveys at both experimental and control schools to evaluate the campaign's impact on the rate of high-risk drinking and its associated consequences. (5) In Year 5, continue and complete data analysis to meet the outlined aims of the study.
