<P> Some have considered that face - to - face interaction can be studied in at least three distinct (if overlapping) ways: psychology; intersubjectivity; and microsociology . </P> <P> Erving Goffman however saw a central tension between Durkheimian approaches, and those drawn from ethology, especially in respect of interpersonal ritual; while followers of him have seen in a Durkheimian microsociology the key to the understanding of large - scale social conflict as well . Erving Goffman's Theories of Social Interaction challenged other sociologists to redirect their focus to the questionable aspects of social behavior . Contrary to Erving Goffman's theory, Émile Durkheim believed that advanced methodological principles should guide sociologists and that they should research Social fact . </P> <P> Sartre, in his work on the phenomenology of social dynamics, Critique of Dialectical Reason, written in the late 1950s, called microsociology the only valid theory of human relations . Jürgen Habermas and Pierre Bourdieu are two more recent theorists who have put microsociological concepts to good use in their works . </P> <P> The famous psychiatrist, R.D. Laing, was much influenced by Garfinkel's ideas on ` degradation ceremonies ` . Another famous English writer / polymath who is greatly influenced by the ideas of studying the minutea of human Social action is Jonathan Miller . </P>

Microsociology is (was) the main focus of sociologists in the past