Statistical and Demographic Sources of Knowledge about Small Towns – An Outline

Abstract

Goal – The purpose of this paper is to review the selected statistical and demographic sources of knowledge about small towns based on selected Polish and European examples. Due to the limitations of this article, the text is an outline which requires further elaboration in other publications. Research methodology – The article is a review paper, so the applied method is desk research on the already existing sources supplemented by the author’s own methodological experience. Score/results – The paper begins with the description of the basic divisions and typologies of sources in social research and then concentrates on existing sources, mainly public statistics in the context of small towns and local communities. It also describes simple methods of usage of basic demographic data stored in Local Data Bank to analyse the dynamics of demographic change in local communities or to prepare quota sample. It also discusses other data repositories provided by Statistics Poland (GUS) and (to lesser extent) Eurostat. In addition, the article proposes to use the results of other research, which, although originally intended for other purposes, may be indirectly relevant to the condition of small towns – studies in commuting within agglomeration. Originality/value – Although many researchers use data deposited in SP (GUS) repositories, such as the Local Data Bank, there is an apparent shortage of review papers on these issues with methodological inclinations. This article, although in outline form which will be developed in the future, may still help beginning researchers in their search and analysis of statistical sources about small towns and local communities.