Methodological Individualism

Methodological individualism is an approach in social science that explains social phenomena by focusing on individual actors and their actions. It assumes that collective outcomes, such as economic trends or social structures, result from the choices and behaviors of individuals, rather than existing independently. Essentially, it analyzes society by understanding the motives, decisions, and interactions of individual people, believing that complex social patterns emerge from these fundamental units. This perspective helps researchers interpret broader social phenomena by examining the underlying individual-level causes.