The article presents the experience of applying the theoretical and methodological means and tools of sociology to study the process of integration and diff erentiation of rural residents, taking place on the basis of family management. It is shown that the range of diff erences within the actors of self-employment is determined by the demographic composition, the production potential of the farmstead, and the orientation towards development. Integration issupported by the similarity of cultural values. From the point of the managerial function of sociology, the author’s ideas about the need and possibility of the transition of family business entities to the status of formal farming are presented.