Micro-sociology studies how individuals interact with society, focusing on human behavior and the reasons behind it. It differs from macro-sociology, which studies social processes on a larger scale. Ethnomethodology is a key method used in micro-sociology to understand how learned assumptions shape behavior.
Micro-sociology is a subspecialty of sociology, primarily concerned with how individuals initiate and respond to various environments, conditions, and interactions in society. Sociology, as an area of study, involves analyzing the social interactions and processes of an entire society, as well as those of each individual member of that society. Macrosociology is the term used to describe the social processes of an entire society, as a whole. Alternatively, micro-sociology is the term used to describe social processes in relation to the individual community member. The contextual use of the term micro-sociology may dictate a slightly different or more focused definition.
In short, micro-sociology is the small-scale study of human behavior and the reasons behind certain behavioral choices. How various biological and psychological factors affect an individual’s interactions are the main focus of this subspecialty. Experts who study micro-sociology and micro-sociological theories try to predict or provide an explanation for certain behaviors, based on interpretive analysis. Unlike macro-sociology, which bases theories on statistical data about an entire society, micro-sociology is based on how the individual makes sense of her world.
Perspective and scope are the main differences between macro and micro-sociology, as areas of sociological study. Sociologists have often argued for or against a particular theory, relying on whether such theories remain statistically true when viewed from both macro- and micro-sociological perspectives. For example, a sociologist could hypothetically theorize that marriages immersed in financial struggles experience the most conflict. Such a theory, while it may be true on some individual or micro-sociological level, does not necessarily prove to be true from a macro-sociological perspective. From the perspective of marriage as a social institution, a more accurate theory might suggest that other factors cause the greatest conflicts.
As an area of study and practice, microsociology involves several methods and techniques. One of the best known methods is ethnomethodology. According to ethnomethodological principles, an individual chooses certain behaviors based on certain assumptions, learned throughout the individual’s life. Most of these hypotheses are invisible, developing from shared knowledge of a particular society.
An example of such assumptions appeared in a 1960s essay on students and the responses given by teachers or counselors. When authority figures gave students obviously wrong answers, rather than believing the answer was irresponsible, students altered their logic to accept the answer as believable. Intellectual choices like this, often made without conscious awareness, demonstrate the learned assumption that education professionals are intelligent and only provide truthful information. Learned assumptions, according to ethnomethodology and similar micro-sociological methods, are typically formed in childhood and provide the basis for future behaviors.
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