M.A. (Sociology) / An increase in the number of people living alone has been observed in various modern industrialised societies, paricularly over the last four decades. Despite this, very little is known about living alone, since until now very little comprehensive research has been undertaken into the lifestyle of those living alone. There has rather been a tendency among social scientists particularly those working within the framework of social integration theory - to base their researches on the assumption that people living .alone necessarily expose themselves to social isolation, to their own detriment. Other researchers, however, stress the probability that those living alone compensate for their relative isolation by maintaining more contacts outside the household and are thus not necessarily exposed to social isolation. The aim of this study was to use qualitative research in an exploratory way to collect in-depth information on the nature of the social integration of women living alone and other related aspects of their lives. Although the findings are therefore limited by the type of research, a number of tendencies regarding the lifestyles and social integration of those living alone can be identified .. Probably one of the most significant conclusions is that, as far as their social integration is concerned, people living alone cannot be treated as a homogeneous category: when, for instance, the regularity and quality of respondents' contact with the central figures in their lives is examined, it appears that their integration into these centrality networks ranges from very high to very low...