Objectives:
The aim of the article is to show the ‘work’ of a research tool in a specific environment, also to show its potential strengths and weaknesses. The research conclusions focus on the sensitivity of the issue raised and the incompatibility of the questionnaire's tools with the level of general knowledge of the respondents, the language they use or the general cultural resource.

Material and methods:
The material is based on the analysis of a research tool - an internet survey used in conventional pilotage.

Results:
The analysis was conducted in terms of the effectiveness and understanding of the pilot questions, also the fatigue effect and the use of the so-called variant questions.

Conclusions:
Overall, this pilot study has served its purpose and, as such, is a good starting point for both in-depth and pivotal studies. The study may complement the latest scientific publications dealing with the subject of the essence and role of parishes in their communities (Wysocki, 2018, p. 411), or also general works on migration studies (Romaniszyn, 2015, pp. 17-18) or Polish communities (Walewander , 2015, pp. 32-33). First of all, it was possible to obtain a response from the respondents to the proposed research topic, which shows the accuracy of its implementation in this specific area of ​​social reality. The very testing of the research tool has made people aware of the need to pay even more attention to the development of questions, their methodological reliability and empirical validity. First of all, in the analysis of the message of Polish culture in French parishes, it was possible to combine the assumptions of the proper construction of the research tool with the topicality of this particular subject of attitudes towards Polishness in the conditions of emigration.