Mapping the Great Beyond: Identifying Meaningful Networks in

70 MAPPING THE GREAT BEYOND
of information. If the networks are still paying off years after
investment, it makes little sense to only measure or report on the
activities undertaken during the current year. Longitudinal studies
may provide greater credibility to contemporary claims about the
anticipated longevity of impact. Equally, if an initiative does not pay
off over the intended timescale, longitudinal studies might provide
insight into the reasons these networks were not meaningful over the
longer term.
There are numerous Public Diplomacy initiatives around the
world which are attempting to build or engage networks. Their
success, or at least their ability to demonstrate success, will lie in
applying evaluation techniques that focus on measuring the same
behaviors as the project aims to influence. If an initiative is designed
to influence participants to join or behave within a particular
network, then a network based evaluation may well provide a means
of evaluating that initiative. Effective evaluation will ultimately rest
on combining new data from the evaluation of a project with the data
an organization may appropriately gather and maintain as a part of
everyday business. Resources expended are an investment not just in
activity but in information!