Macrosociology is an approach to sociology which emphasizes the analysis of
social systems and
populations on a large scale, at the level of
social structure, and often at a necessarily high level of theoretical abstraction.
Microsociology, by contrast, focuses on the individual social
agency. Macrosociology also concerns individuals, families, and other constituent aspects of a society, but always does so in relation to larger social system of which they are a part. Macrosociology can also be the analysis of large collectivities (e.g. the
city, the
church). Human
populations are considered a society to the degree that is politically autonomous and its members to engage in a broad range of cooperative activities. For example, this definition would apply to the population of
Germany being deemed a society, but
German-speaking people as a whole scattered about different countries would not be considered a society. Macrosociology deals with broad societal trends that can later be applied to the smaller features of a society. To differentiate, macrosociology deals with issues such as
war, distress of
Third World nations,
poverty, and environmental deprivation, whereas microsociology analyses issues such as the role of
women, the nature of the
family, and immigration of people.
