Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (pairfam) – Internationalization
The German Family Panel (pairfam), funded as a long-term project by the German Research Foundation (DFG), is a multidisciplinary longitudinal study designed for the investigation of partnerships, families and living arrangements in Germany. Its goal is to overcome existent limitations with respect to the quality of data for family and relationship research. Advanced analyses of family and relationship dynamics are facilitated by the study’s interdisciplinary approach as well as by its longitudinal design, which permits the prospective conceptualization of decision-making processes along the life course and supports causal analysis.
The German Family Panel is put into practice in a cooperative effort by the University of Bremen, the University of Jena, the University of Cologne, the University of Munich and Chemnitz University of Technology. At Chemnitz, the internationalization of the pairfam data is being realized. For this purpose, pairfam data are being harmonized with comparable panel data from other countries by means of aligning the operationalization of similar theoretical constructs. These efforts are made to serve two scientific objectives: On the one hand, the empirical base is widened as the number of cases rises in the course of the data harmonization process. On the other hand, the analysis potential of the pairfam data increases since family sociological problems can be analysed in a cross-national and cross-cultural comparative perspective. A harmonized dataset is to be generated as the final product. It will be made available to the scientific community subsequently.
