Monday, June 3, 2019
Differences between Macro and Micro sociology
Differences between Macro and Micro sociologyExplain the differences between Macro and Micro sociology. Identify some of the key sociological addresses in both aras. Which do you think is more riding habitful for studying order and why?Giddens (1989) defines sociology in the following way Sociology is the study of human well-disposed 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 im assertable to know all its aspect, it is only possible to learn how to apply sociological imagination , that is why all the sociologicaltheories may be broadlydivided into macro andmicro approaches, which will be deeper discussed and considered from each angle in this essay.Macro soci ology studies social structures, communities, big social groups, layers, systems and processes that occur in them. The social community such as civilization is the grievous objective of macro sociology. It is not concentreed 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 of import 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 s ociological 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 sociologyis ace of the main branches ofsociology, examining the nature of everyday humansocial interactionsandagencyon 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 an early(a) name sociometry. This term is associated with Jacob L. Moreno, who was aJewishRomanian-bornAustrian-Americanleadingpsychiatrist, sociologist, thinker andeducator. During his lifetime, he was recognized as one of the leading social scientists. Sociometry has got very original research methods, whic h are widely used asa general scientifictoolinvarioussocialstudies. For Moreno three the most important concepts of the sociometry were socius companion, metrum measurement and drama action. Moreno (1948) defines sociometry as the inquiry into the evolution and organization of groups and the position of individuals within them.ForMorenoandotherrepresentatives ofsociometry the mainobject ofresearchis an existing smallsocial groups and the mostimportant,whatcharacterizes these social groups isthe peoples emotionalrelationshipwith each other that isformingan atomisticstructure ofsociety. Simpleobservations are notable tocapture theserelationships, yetthey canbeidentified byusing specificmeasurement methods,particularly surveytechniquesand processing of data. For character sociometric tests, sociomatrices and sociograms. Thistechnique allowsdetecting theactualsituations of conflictandeffortsto eliminate them. The creation of sociometry has importantly contributed to the sociology an d is considered to be one of the most significant achievements of sociology as a science for the spotless period of its existence.The introduction of quantitative methods in sociology considerably transformed it and allowed to study with unprecedented accuracy.One of the most significant consequences of creation of the micro sociology has become the step-up of interest and opportunities for social research in the study of various problems of human existence with the use of quantative methods and modern com wanderer technologies.Functionalists mainlyfocus on themacrostructuresof society,but representativesof symbolicinteractionismare usuallymore concerned about micro aspectsof social life. Also they argue that micro sociology is more useful for studying society. For fountJohnH.Mead andH.Blumerstudied thesocialinteractionof individualsandspeculatedhowthey manage tocoordinate their actions with each other.The Representatives of symbolic interactionism emphasize the fact that people are social beings.However, in analogy 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,if people have essentially no inherent nature of the mechanisms of social behaviuor it is not clear how society can be created.Representatives of symbolic interactionism think 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 otherwords, socialrealityis createdby peoplewhen theyactin thisworld andinterpreteventsoccurring init.Nietzsches 1880s notebooks repeatedly state that there are no f acts, only interpretations. Wechoose thefactsfrom theuniversalcontextbythe activityof ourbrain , andbecause of that allthe factsare the creationsof a man.Accordingly, representatives ofsymbolicinteractionismbelievethatwe perceive the worldasconstructedreality.Allthis leadsrepresentativesof symbolic interactionismto the conclusionthatifsociologistswant tostudy thelifeof society, they must first understand thewordsand actions ofmembers ofthis society,takingtheirpointof view.Thistheorywas largelyinfluenced byWeberianconceptof understanding(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 advantageof this approachis thatitintroduces thepeople in thepanorama ofsociological research.Itpaysattentiontothe activitiesof individualsintheirdailylives andsees that thepeopleare not robots that mechanic ally carry out the orders of social rules and institutional normsbut beings that arelivingtheirlivesand have got and ability tothink. Through interaction, they operate on symbols and meanings that enable them to interpret the situation, assess the advantages and disadvantages of certain actions and then choose one of them.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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