At study of internal structure of family there are the significant difficulties, connected to insufficient theoretical study of this problem. Amplification attention of the researchers to a history of family forces to address to some theoretical and methodological problems of development of family. One of such problems is classification of family. The reference to a history of study of types widespread in Russia of families can give much used for the modern researchers. As changes in structure of family conduct in a final result to modification of its forms and all relations of its members, the precondition of any historical research of family is the characteristic of its internal structure. The active study Russian, first of all of peasant family, was developed in Russian historiography with the second half XIX in., that was connected to the special importance of an agrarian question during preparation and realization of reform 1861.

During study of family the researchers have developed a few tens of the circuits of classification, which are frequently non-comparable with each other. The most widespread in modern researches on a history of Russian family division into small and unshared families with allocation of versions is.

It is obvious, that the structure of each separately taken family can be considered and to be described by various ways. The families are diverse on the internal structure and structure inside the family relations and in the scientific literature it is offered many approaches to construction of classification of families. The expediency of application that or other approach depends on problems of research.