microsociology

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

Pronunciation Usage Guide

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:
  • dramaturgical analysis
  • ethnomethodology
  • symbolic interactionism
• 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

• culture
• ecological fallacy
• group
• individual
• norm
• symbolic interactionism
• value

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 March 25, 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 March 25, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/microsociology/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“microsociology.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/microsociology/>.