ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a general framework that may serve as a useful way of conceptualizing the interrelationships between micro and macro phenomena. It shows that micro/macro problems may be conceptualized in three separate dimensions -- spatial, causal and time. Perhaps the most common formulation of micro/macro relationships is in terms of the size and location of the units being considered. Anthropologists and other social scientists are familiar with the issue of size in several guises. Most anthropological field work is focused on the microlevel phenomena of a single culture within a relatively circumscribed time. The micro/macro distinction is often formulated, especially in social psychology and economics, in terms of the individual versus the aggregate. Psychologists and economists must seek answers to the central issues of how individual motives and purposes generate collective outcomes such as institutional, corporate, or group behavior.
