Abstract:

In the study, a taxonomic method (Chomątowski S., Sokołowski A., 1978), (A. Młodak,) was employed to analyse the level of variation of objects described by selected statistical characteristics and identify clusters of objects sharing a similar level of development  of the phenomenon under consideration. (Taxonomic method with modifications proposed  by A. Młodak (Młodak A., 2006)).The study covered the years 2010-2020, including the time  of the Covid-19 pandemic. The analysis included in two stages, i.e. it covered two directions  of the structure analysis: the static variant and the dynamic variant. First, Poland was analysed  and the groups of voivodeships featuring a homogeneous level of development were identified.  In the next step, the analysis was performed for the European countries to see how Poland compares to them. The last stage involved analysing the US states in regard to the phenomenon under study. The data comes from the statistical yearbooks published by the Central Statistical Office and from the Eurostat websites.