A general frame of reference for a comprehensive model of socialization is presented. This model considers different levels of theoretical analysis and a methodological combination of investigations of the "objective" social reality with "subjective" interpretations of reality as it is in the Federal Republic of Germany. The meta-theoretical model of the subject in socialization research, the principles of theory construction in this discipline, and pluralistic methodological procedures are discussed. An interdisciplinary approach is needed which will provide for a division of labor between sociology, psychology, and educational science within the framework of an integrative program of research. (BZ)