
This article presents the stages of constructing the author’s social cohesion index and a proposal for its use in social research. As a side effect of the analyses presented in the article, the paper presents a characterisation of local social cohesion within a medium-sized city such as Chrzanów, based on a pilot survey (N=505). It demonstrates that different patterns of social cohesion operate within the city, underpinned by urban, historical or industrial differences that can be identified within the city. The article highlights a theoretical perspective that defines social cohesion in isolation from policy objectives (cohesion policy, social policy). It concludes by pointing out the potential benefits of the proposed approach to the study of local social cohesion, together with the prospect of broadening the research questions as well as verifying the results obtained in studies of other cities.