intelligent measurement

Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles – Final Version

August 24, 2010 at 7:56 am 3 comments

The Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles for communication evaluation, which I wrote about previously,  have now been finalised, here they are:

Seven Principles

1.Importance of Goal Setting and Measurement
2.Measuring the Effect on Outcomes is Preferred to Measuring Outputs
3.The Effect on Business Results Can and Should Be Measured Where Possible
4.Media Measurement Requires Quantity and Quality
5.AVEs are not the Value of Public Relations
6.Social Media Can and Should be Measured
7.Transparency and Replicability are Paramount to Sound Measurement

The explanatory text (pdf) is well worth a read as it explains the thinking behind the above principles. As I pointed out before, two out of seven principles focus on media measurement, indicating our sector’s focus in this area –  what I consider a distraction from real “outcome” evaluation which communications needs.

The International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) has set up taskforces to find the answers to two questions related to principles 5 & 6, notably:

1) What are the “validated metrics” to replace AVEs?
2) How do you get started in measuring social media, and what are the definitions of relevant metrics?

I look forward to learning more about their work.

Read about this initiative further>>

Entry filed under: Communication evaluation, PR evaluation.