Similarities:
1-Both theories emphasize social definitions-that is, how actors define social situations and their performance on the basis of these definitions.
2-Both theories have a micro-approach, which refers to daily life, thoughts and actions.
3-Both are considered as creative sociology, since they don’t consider actors as passive, but as active participants of social environment .
Differences:
1-Phenomenology or phenomenological sociology has little empirical support/ground and remains largely theoretical, whereas ethnomethodology is not only highly empirical, but also uses methods of mainstream sociology such as breaching experiments and tape analysis.
2-Both approaches are interested in consciousness//awareness. However, phenomenological sociology focuses on cultural requirements, which is accepting forces that shape culture and creativity. While ethnomethodology puts less emphasis on cultural requirements, which means that many practitioners of this theory have a more creative image of the actor (Ibid: 322).