ABSTRACT
This chapter contains a general description of the whole volume, as well as preliminary considerations about the phases of the research problem construction (from the first tackling of the subject to the final formulation of the research question), and about the fieldwork (accessibility, factors that influenced the choice of parishes and informants, joys and sorrows of engaging in qualitative research about Orthodox communities in the West), and methodological considerations about the need to adapt social scientific methodology in order to better grasp the specificities of Orthodox Christians and their religious institutions.
