Monday, August 5, 2019
Differences between Macro and Micro sociology
Differences between Macro and Micro sociology Explain the differences between Macro and Micro sociology. Identify some of the key sociological approaches in both areas. Which do you think is more useful for studying society and why? Giddens (1989) defines sociology in the following way: Sociology is the study of human social life, groups and societies. It is a dazzling and compelling enterprise, having as its subject matter our own behaviour as social beings. The scope of sociology is extremely wide, ranging from the analysis of passing encounters between individuals in the street up to the investigation of world-wide social processes. Sociology is a significant subject so it is almost impossible to know all its aspect, it is only possible to learn how to apply sociological imagination , that is why all the sociologicalà theories may be broadlyà divided into macro andà micro approaches, which will be deeper discussed and considered from each angle in this essay. Macro sociology studies social structures, communities, big social groups, layers, systems and processes that occur in them. The social community such as civilization is the main objective of macro sociology. It is not focused on detailed analysis of certain problems and situations; its target is a complex understanding of the issue. Macro sociological approach to phenomena is associated with the social world systems and its interaction with different types of culture, social institutions (complex social forms), social structures and global processes. Mainly macro sociology concentrates on the models of behavior that help to understand society as a whole. The main concepts of macro sociology are: society, culture, social institutions, social system, structure and also global social processes. Macro sociologists argue that society is in a more priority than individual as his behavior is formed by society he was born and brought up in. Macro sociology includes several important sociolo gical perspectives such as: functionalism that focuses on relationship between the parts of society and how aspects of society are functional and Conflict Theory which main focus is competition for scarce resources and how the elite control the poor and weak. Micro sociologyà is one of the main branches ofà sociology, examining the nature of everyday humanà social interactionsà andà agencyà on a small scale. Micro sociology is based on interpretative analysis rather than statistical or empirical observation. It includes a theory of Symbolic interactionism that focuses on the use of symbols and face-to-face interactions. Micro sociology appeared in the late 30s of this century and had another name sociometry. This term is associated with Jacob L. Moreno, who was aà Jewishà Romanian-bornà Austrian-Americanà leadingà psychiatrist, sociologist, thinker andà educator. During his lifetime, he was recognized as one of the leading social scientists. Sociometry has got very original research methods, which are widely used asà a general scientificà toolà inà variousà socialà studies. For Moreno three the most important concepts of the sociometry were: socius companion, metrum measurement and drama action. Mor eno (1948) defines sociometry as the inquiry into the evolution and organization of groups and the position of individuals within them.à Forà Morenoà andà otherà representatives ofà sociometry the mainà object ofà researchà is an existing smallà social groups and the mostà important,à whatà characterizes these social groups isà the peoples emotionalà relationshipà with each other that isà formingà an atomisticà structure ofà society. Simpleà observations are notà able toà capture theseà relationships,à butà they canà beà identified byà using specificà measurement methods,à particularly surveyà techniquesà and processing of data. For example: sociometric tests, sociomatrices and sociograms. Thisà technique allowsà detecting theà actualà situations of conflictà andà effortsà to eliminate them. The creation of sociometry has importantly contributed to the sociology and is considered to be one of the most si gnificant achievements of sociology as a science for the entire period of its existence.à The introduction of quantitative methods in sociology considerably transformed it and allowed to study with unprecedented accuracy.à One of the most significant consequences of creation of the micro sociology has become the increase of interest and opportunities for social research in the study of various problems of human existence with the use of quantative methods and modern computer technologies. Functionalists mainlyà focus on theà macrostructuresà of society,à but representativesà of symbolicà interactionismà are usuallyà more concerned about micro aspectsà of social life. Also they argue that micro sociology is more useful for studying society. For instanceà Johnà H.Mead andà H.à Blumerà studied theà socialà interactionà of individualsà andà speculatedà howà they manage toà coordinate their actions with each other. The Representatives of symbolic interactionism emphasize the fact that people are social beings.à However, in comparison with ants, bees, termites and other insects, that are leading a social life, people almost do not have any inherent models of behavior that connect us with each other. Consequently,à if people have essentially no inherent nature of the mechanisms of social behaviuor it is not clear how society can be created.à Representatives of symbolic interactionism find the answer in the ability of people to communicate through the symbols. Geogre Herbert Meed (1863-1931) and other representatives of symbolic interactionism state that we perform an act by conforming to the meaning we put in it. Generally Blumer states that the meaning is not something initially related to the things, on the contrary, it is characteristic which emerges from the interaction between people in their everyday life. In otherà words, socialà realityà is createdà by peopleà when theyà actà in thisà world andà interpretà eventsà occurring inà it. Nietzsches 1880s notebooks repeatedly state that there are no facts, only interpretations. Weà choose theà factsà from theà universalà contextà byà the activityà of ourà brain , andà because of that allà the factsà are the creationsà of a man.à Accordingly, representatives ofà symbolicà interactionismà believeà thatà we perceive the worldà asà constructedà reality. Allà this leadsà representativesà of symbolic interactionismà to the conclusionà thatà ifà sociologistsà want toà study theà lifeà of society, they must first understand theà wordsà and actions ofà members ofà this society,à takingà theirà pointà of view.à Thisà theoryà was largelyà influenced byà Weberianà conceptà of understandingà (Verstehen) or empathetic understanding. This gives an opportunity to the sociologists to mentally put themselves into the other persons shoes and thus obtain an interpretive understanding of the meanings of individuals behaviours. To conclude, the advantageà of this approachà is thatà ità introduces theà people in theà panorama ofà sociological research.à Ità paysà attentionà toà the activitiesà of individualsà inà theirà dailyà lives andà sees that theà peopleà are not robots that mechanically carry out the orders of social rules and institutional normsà but beings that areà livingà theirà livesà and have got and ability toà think. Through interaction, they operate on symbols and meanings à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â¬ ¹Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â¬ ¹that enable them to interpret the situation, assess the advantages and disadvantages of certain actions and then choose one of them.à Thus, representatives of symbolic interactionism suggest the image of a man as an individual, actively shaping his behavior, rather than passively reacting to external dictates of structural limitations.
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