In a survey on “Where does family research stand?” Hartmann Tyrell (2006) expresses two impressions. The fi rst: “In recent decades, [rational choice theory] has become the dominating theory of orientation within German family sociology” (Tyrell 2006: 142, all direct quotations have been translated from German into English by CPoS). The second: “The hegemony of rational choice theory [is] not good for family sociology” (Tyrell 2006: 142). This special issue aims to contribute to rectifying this d rawback or to clarifying whether it truly is a drawback. Preliminary, some refl ections shall be made here, on the current situation of the theoretical landscape in family research, on the contribution of the various theoretical approaches as well as on the conceptualisation of cultural-normative approaches; afterwards the empirical articles are presented. It is true that in the past two decades much use has been made of quantitative microdata and benefi ts-oriented action theories to explain familial and most of all generative behaviour, as in many sociological (sub-)disciplines. Strictly speaking, this is less a hegemony of rational choice approaches in general (for an overview cf. Hill/Kopp 2006: 102-146), which (as shown in the following) are based in part on quite complex actor models, but, in very concrete terms, of economic explanatory approaches such as the human capital approach and new household economics (Becker 1993). There are multiple reasons for this. One is the rapidly growing availability of survey data and of powerful computers and statistical software for their analysis. This also logically has led empirical social research to shift more to quantitative microanalyses. These analyses are theory-led, for which economic theoretical approaches lend themselves in particular. For one, comparatively distinct projections can be derived from economic theories, which facilitate the formation of hypotheses. In addition, these usually argue using “hard facts,” which can be easily ascertained using standardised measuring instruments. Yet the interest in economic theories has also grown for reasons of theoretical and content nature. After all, the individualisation thesis of Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1993, 1994) proclaims liberation of individuals in the late modern age from traditional constraints and greater personal responsibility for shaping their own biographies. Rather than prefabricated “normal biographies,” today we live personally designed “self-made biographies.” If we pursue this thesis, we must presume that Comparative Population Studies Vol. 39, 3 (2014): 451-464 (Date of release: 29.09.2014)