Definition of Microsociology
(noun) Small-scale sociological analysis that studies the behavior of people in face-to-face social interactions and small groups to understand what they do, say, and think.
Examples of Microsociology
- Studying microexpressions in various social contexts.
- symbolic interactionism
Microsociology Pronunciation
Syllabification: mic·ro·so·ci·ol·o·gy
Audio Pronunciation
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˌmaɪkroʊˌsoʊsiˈɑlədʒi/
- British English – /ˌmʌɪkrə(ʊ)səʊsɪˈɒlədʒi/
Usage Notes
- Plural: microsociologies
- Microsociology is the “little picture” or the “sociology of everyday life,” which studies microlevel phenomena.
- Microsociology is often used in an effort to understand how people derive meaning.
- Microsociology is compared and contrasted to macrosociology. However, the distinction between microsociology and macrosociology is not well-established across the discipline of sociology and exists on a continuum. A theoretical attempt to combine aspects of microsociology and macrosociology is called a micro-macro theory.
- Microsociology scholars include:
- Erving Goffman (1922–1982)
- Jürgen Habermas (1929)
- Edmund Husserl (1859–1938)
- Alfred Schütz (1899–1959)
- Max Weber (1864–1920)
- Types:
- Variant spellings:
- micro sociology
- micro-sociology
- Also called:
- micro analysis
- microview (micro view, micro-view)
- microlevel (micro level, micro-level)
- microlevel analysis (micro level analysis, micro-level analysis)
- microlevel orientation (micro level orientation, micro-level orientation)
- A (noun) microsociologist studies society from the (adjective) microsociologic or (adjective) microsociologistic or (adjective) microsociological perspective to understand social interactions (adverb) microsociologically.
Related Video
Additional Information
- Atkinson, J. Maxwell, and John Heritage, eds. 1984. Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Blumer, Herbert. 1969. Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
- Cahill, Spencer, and Kent L. Sandstrom. 2011. Inside Social Life: Readings in Sociological Psychology and Microsociology. 6th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Cooley, Charles Horton. 1902. Human Nature and the Social Order. New York: Scribner.
- Garfinkel, Harold. 1967. Studies in Ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
- Handel, Warren H. 1982. Ethnomethodology: How People Make Sense. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
- Livingston, Eric. 1987. Making Sense of Ethnomethodology. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Mead, George Herbert. 1934. Mind, Self & Society from the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. 1945. Phenomenology of Perception.
- Scheff, Thomas J. 1990. Microsociology: Discourse, Emotion, and Social Structure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Schütz, Alfred. 1932. The Phenomenology of the Social World. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
- Scott, Susie. 2009. Making Sense of Everyday Life. Cambridge: Polity.
- wiseGEEK – What is Micro-Sociology: wisegeek.com
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Brinkerhoff, David, Lynn White, Suzanne Ortega, and Rose Weitz. 2011. Essentials of Sociology. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Ravelli, Bruce, and Michelle Webber. 2016. Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Microsociology
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “microsociology.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved October 2, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/microsociology/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
microsociology. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/microsociology/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “microsociology.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/microsociology/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“microsociology.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 2 Oct. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/microsociology/>.