Editorial on the special issue “Empirical Analyses based on the German Family Panel (pairfam)”

Abstract

The articles in this special issue present empirical analyses based on the data from the German Family Panel (pairfam). The study uses the acronym “pairfam” referring to its English title “Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics.” The articles provide example insights into the possibilities offered by empirical analyses using data of the fi rst pairfam waves. They are thus not simple overviews, but deal with specifi c research issues referring to three of four focal themes of the pairfam panel which are of special interest for demographic research: intimate relationships, fertility and intergenerational relationships. In addition, a methodological article presents an analysis of high relevance for the design of the survey addressing factors that infl uence the willingness of third parties to participate in the survey – in this case the partners and parents of the anchors. The articles originate from the contexts of various disciplines in demographics, psychology and sociology. The long-term design of the German Family Panel aims to contribute to improving the empirical basis of German and international research on dynamics of intimate relationships and family histories. It is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as a long-term research project in the humanities and social sciences. The fi rst panel wave was launched in 2008. Since then, the anchors from the pairfam sample are surveyed annually along with their partners, parents and children. To prepare the methodological concept and contents, during the four years prior to the launch of the panel, special research questions dealing with intimate relationships and family dynamics have been investigated in nineteen research projects which were all part of a DFG priority programme. This programme also included a self-managed “mini panel” consisting of three waves, which served as the methodological test run for the pairfam study (Feldhaus/Huinink 2008). A number of notable scholars of relationship and family research from various disciplines participated in this initiative of socio-scientifi c family research, which was unique in its magnitude at the time. Without this broad-ranging cooperation, pairfam would probably never have materialised. In May 2010, the data from the fi rst wave of the German Family Panel were made available to the academic public for analyses. Since then, three panel waves have