Measuring the Impact of Communication

Over the years, much effort has been put into coming up with ways to measure a country's economic well-being. In these times of globalization - a good thing, I might add -  it makes perfect sense to calculate what kind of success and benefit countries derive from their interactions with each other. The gross national income (GNI) is one example of an economic yardstick. By drawing upon a number of variables, it determines which countries are more economically healthy than others. Purchasing power purity (PPP) is another example. In it, the living standards of a country are determined. Again, this, too, makes sense.

But one thing that neither GNI and PPP adequately do is calculate the well-being of individuals. It was this in mind when Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen created what he called a human development index (HDI). It was Sen's belief that their more important ways to measure the direct impact of globalization. This, he said, includes such variables as a person's opportunities to succeed, how much of a voice an individual has within their country, a country's literacy rate, life expectancy at birth, educational attainment, and how well each person's income helps them meet their needs. Collectively, the HDI attempts to paint a ore accurate and realistic picture of  how much better an individual's life is as result of their country's internal and external efforts.

There is much to appreciate about Sen's effort as it attempts to address the quality of one's life in perhaps a more realistic way than the more traditional GNI and PPP yardsticks do. This is leading me to think that perhaps a similar yardstick might be needed in the field of communication. Given all the communication strategies practiced literally every day by individuals and various entities, it might be time for someone - anyone - to devise some sort of way to gauge how much any of these efforts contribute to our own sense of worth, need to feel valued, be properly informed, and be heard. Perhaps such a yardstick might help reduce the great divide within our country and even the world.