Its no wonder people get so confused. When we sociologists talk about "norms" we are usually talking about a culture's expectations for behavior, and we're using the term in a descriptive and not in a moral/judgemental way. We are sometimes also, as many scientists are, using the term to describe a kind of commonly occuring type, as Alex points out. Again, a descriptive and not a judgemental use of the term.

But as Mojave66 notes, that scientific language often gets read as normative, and often gets used to support moral judgements or to argue that one kind of behavior is healthy while other kinds of behavior is a sign of illness or disease.

I don't see an easy way to prevent those leaps from being made, but I do think it points to just how important it is that we're out there helping make sense of science reporting, and helping to reshape the discourses that come out of misinterpretations and misapplications of research findings!

...because public space really matters!

Elizabeth