The Methodologies of George Herbert Mead and Herbert Blumer. Similarities and Differences

Abstract

Throughout the article the author seeks to compare two of the most influential schools of American social science of the first and second half of the twentieth century: Social Behaviorism and Symbolic Interactionism. For this reason, he draws on the main methodological writings of its greatest exponents: George Herbert Mead and Herbert Blumer, respectively. The conclusion he reaches is that despite the differences in their conceptions of scientific activity, both school`s methods are closely related through pragmatic psychology, and that the main differences are the result of a selective interpretation of Blumer on the work of Mead.