EN
The article is a presentation of the monographic research into the territorial communities of Western Pomerania. The research of that type has been carried out – with various intensity – from the end of the 1950s. The tradition of the monographic field research has its origins in sociology and cultural anthropology, and its characteristic feature is a comprehensive, many-sided approach to the community under scrutiny in a wide context of environmental, economic, political and historical factors. Such a manner of carrying out research is radically different from the survey type that is dominant in sociology.