Impact and Image Observatory

The Impact and Image Observatory (#IIO) by the PRESPA Institute, is a permanent project from the thematic area Foreign Policy and International Relations. Active since 2020, this project includes two components: the International Impact Index (#3IIndex) and the Image Observatory (#ImageObservatory).

The #3iIndex is a synthetic index, which orders, quantifies, and aggregates the presence of different countries in North Macedonia. The Index answers the question: to what extent and in what form are countries present within the borders of North Macedonia?

The #ImageObservatory is a research tool that monitors and measures public opinions, attitudes and stereotypes on foreign policy, as well as on patterns of economic, political and cultural exchange between North Macedonia and other countries.

The Impact and Image Observatory (#IIO) monitors 64 countries over a period of 21 years (2000-2020), from six different groups: CEFTA; European Union; EFTA; European Neighborhood, Central Asia and Middle East; G20 and Regionally Important Players; G7 and Global Players.

#IIO collected, systematized and processed statistical and other data from national and international sources, as well as data from media publications and social media profiles. The #IIO Database stores approximately 80,000 units of statistical data used for the #3iIndex, as well as approximately 7,000,000 news articles, approximately 77,000 Facebook Posts from verified pages from North Macedonia and approximately 14,000,000 Tweets from North Macedonia users with the largest number of followers and reach.

Apart from the desk research, #IIO included field research with two Opinion Polls conducted on a nationally representative sample of 1002 and 1216 adult respondents, conducted in 2000 and 2022. In addition, an electronic open forum was organized in 2020, while in 2022 8 Focus Groups with adult citizens in each of the Statistical Planning Regions were organized, as well as two cycles of 45 Semi-structured Interviews with opinion-makers and policy-makers were conducted in 2020 and 2022.