W.I. Thomas, Robert K. Merton, and the definition of a common situational approach

Abstract

This articles aims to demonstrate how it is possible to compare the sociologies of William Isaac Thomas and Robert K. Merton, defining a common situational approach. This would result in a third alternative between symbolic interactionism and functionalism, that tries to go beyond the limits of the two approaches in terms of: abstractness, scarce attention to power dynamics, implicit or explicit acceptance of status quo, weak operationalization. The author focused on the biographical and intellectual contacts between the two scholars and on analogies at an epistemological, methodological and theoretical level. Finally, the situational approach is connected with the more recent developments in sociological theory.