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subject directions — Table 4) of 17 yearly issues of „Polish Bibliography of Annotated Knowledge about Mass Media” the author shows the most cha-racteristic tendencies appeari.ng in the development of Polish research over the press during the past two decades.

Having explained the basie notions: “the calculation unit” (it is the “biblio-graphic item” and the way of its classification in the mentioned bibliography), the concept of „originator” — ,jpromoto.r”, the author proceed.s to name seven causal institutions to which all the herc analysed publications can be easily attributed:

1. The Centre of Press Research (with its scientifiic organ Zeszyty Praso-znawcze); 2. The Centre of Research over Public Opinion and Programmes Studies of Polish Radio and TV; 3. The Institutes and Commissions of the Polish Academy of Sciences; for understandable reasons its specjalized insti-tute; 4. the Study of History of Polish Periodical Prints in 19th and 20th centuries in the Imstitute of Literary Research of the Polish Ac. of Sc., was treated separately; 5. Hiigher schools; 6. Regional and Specialized Scientific Societies; 7. the others (under this heading were gathered publications of publicisti-informative character about the mass media.

The detailed results of research are shown lin four successive Tables, indi-cating also the fact of continually growing number of publications from one year to another (cf. Tables 1—3). The appearing deviations both positive and negative are expla.ined in detali.

The most characteristic feature here is the domination of research over the press — printed journalism, which occupies as much as 78 per cent of all items. To a certain degree this domination is cnly apparent and determined by the conditions of genetic naturę. The printed journalism — as opposed to audio-visual one — is the original phenomenon (with tradition of 320 years in Poland), and therefore it lis the press that delimits the essential character of the ether forms of public communication. Thus, while discussing the generał aspects of journalism as such, the press appears as the most freąuent object of exemplificaticn. There are also other reasons of objective naturę — the obvious difficultics encountered by research over transient and ephemeral stuff as audio-vusual journalism. Also the genetic conditions explain the su-premacy of research over the history of press (43 p.c.) It is also easy to notice the elear domination of detailed research accompamied by lcnv development level of theoretical-methodological investigations; the ratio between the two is 10 to 1.

The detailed analysis of the total materiał (N = 6871) enabled the author to compile a table of hierarchy, which according to him should perform the role of a certain referrence model to which the rank values of particular institutions ought to be approached:

—    42,8 p.c.

—    24,3 p.c.

—    14,0 p.c.

—    9,5 p.c.

—    4,7 p.c.

—    2,6 p.c.

—    2,1 p.c.

1.    the history of mass communication media

2.    theory and practice

3.    sociology and psychology

4.    dccumentation

5.    the law

6.    economdcs

7.    language

The ranking liist presented above is almost ideally followed by the Press Research Centre, and in two aspects of the issue. All the directions of research are present in its aotivities. What is morę (with the exception of press-history investigations) major quantitative differences do not occur between these two aspects in all directions of research subjeets. One exception is the category “the theory and practice of mass communication media”. The role of these problems in research over mass media was described in detail. It is even merged with press-research iin the narrower meaning of this term. Other characteristic feature of the specific role of the Press Research Centre in contemporary hwetigations consists in morę active than in the other institutions interest in theoretical-methodological research. (Author’s abstract)