Macrosociology is one of the main branches of sociology (contrast with microsociology) which deals with primarily with the statistical nature of society. Social interactions of people and their consequences are the subject of sociology studies. ... Microsociology is one of the main branches of sociology (contrast with macrosociology) which concerns itself with nature of human interaction on a small scale. ...
Sociologists distinguish macrosociology from microsociology, which focuses on the social activities of individuals and small groups.
As with many other oppositional concepts, however, the boundary between microsociology and macrosociology is not clearly distinguished, and at the margins there is much room for overlap.
A useful means of distinguishing between the two approaches is based on the concept of "units of analysis." Macrosociology uses as its subjects structural-level units of analysis or cases that are larger than observations of individual action and interaction.
Lenski (1982) defines macrosociology simply as "concerned with human societies".
Emile Durkheim; who viewed individual issues as reflective of greater social patterns, completing the first sociological study (which linked suicide to societal trends)
Gerhard Lenski, Human societies: An introduction to Macrosociology, McGraw-Hill, 1982, ISBN 0-07-037176-8
Feeds |
Contact