File:Robert_K._Merton_(1965).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Robert K. Merton was an influential American sociologist who developed important theories about how society works, including concepts like the "self-fulfilling prophecy" and ideas about how institutions and individuals interact. His work shaped modern sociology and helped establish it as a rigorous academic discipline that could explain patterns in human behavior and social systems.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Works
- 43
Top works
- Reader in Bureacracy
- Continuities in Social Research
- Focused Interview
- Social Science Quotations
- The Legacy Of Anomie Theory (advances In Criminological Theory)
via Open Library + Wikidata
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Female
- Origin
- United Kingdom
- Active from
- 1965-07-31
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Recent publications · Crossref
5 total works indexed
- Development of the Colle-Salvetti correlation-energy formula into a functional of the electron density
· 1988 · cited 95,803x
- Hallmarks of Cancer: The Next Generation
· 2011 · cited 56,565x
- Research electronic data capture (REDCap)—A metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support
· 2009 · cited 46,853x
- Regression Shrinkage and Selection Via the Lasso
· 1996 · cited 39,807x
- The PHQ-9
· 2001 · cited 39,523x
via Crossref · CC0
Quotes
- “The ethos of science involves the functionally necessary demand that theories or generalizations be evaluated in [terms of] their logical consistency and consonance with facts.”
- “The extreme emphasis upon the accumulation of wealth as a symbol of success in our society militates against the completely effective control of institutionally regulated modes of acquiring a fortune.”
- “Scientific research is not conducted in a social vacuum.”
- “No man knows fully what has shaped his own thinking”
- “By social structure is meant that organized set of social relationships in which members of the society or group are variously implicated.”
- “[Merton states that anomie represents] An acute disjunction between the cultural norms and goals and the socially structured capacities of members of the group to act in accord with them.”
via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA
Key facts
- Born
- Meyer Robert Schkolnick , ( 1910-07-04 ) July 4, 1910, Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, U.S.
- Died
- February 23, 2003 (2003-02-23) (aged 92), New York City, U.S.
- Known for
- Self-fulfilling prophecy Self-defeating prophecy Merton's strain theory of deviance Sociology of Science Functionalism Role model Reference group Mertonian norms Merton thesis Matthew effect
- Spouses
- Suzanne Carhart Harriet Zuckerman
- Children
- Vanessa Merton Robert C. Merton Stephanie Merton Tombrello
- Awards
- Guggenheim Fellowship (1949) Parsons Prize (1980) John Desmond Bernal Prize (1982) National Medal of Science (1994) Cooley-Mead Award (1997)
- Alma mater
- Harvard University ( MA , PhD ) Temple University ( BA )
- Doctoral advisor
- Pitirim Sorokin
- Other advisors
- Talcott Parsons , Lawrence Joseph Henderson , George Sarton
- Discipline
- Sociology
- Institutions
- Harvard University , Tulane University , Columbia University
- Doctoral students
- Peter Blau Lewis Coser Barney Glaser Alvin Gouldner Philip Selznick
- Notable students
- E. Digby Baltzell Richard Cloward Jonathan R. Cole Stephen Cole Cynthia Fuchs Epstein Nathan Glazer Piotr Sztompka
via Wikipedia infobox
~36 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Robert King Merton (born Meyer Robert Schkolnick; July 4, 1910 – February 23, 2003) was an American sociologist who is considered a founding father of modern sociology, and a major contributor to the subfield of criminology. He served as the 47th president of the American Sociological Association. He spent most of his career teaching at Columbia University, where he attained the rank of University Professor. In 1994 he was awarded the National Medal of Science for his contributions to the field and for having founded the sociology of science.
Merton's contribution to sociology falls into three areas: (1) sociology of science; (2) sociology of crime and deviance; (3) sociological theory. He popularized notable concepts, such as "unintended consequences", the "reference group", and "role strain", but is perhaps best known for the terms "role model" and "self-fulfilling prophecy". The concept of self-fulfilling prophecy, which is a central element in modern sociological, political, and economic theory, is one type of process through which a belief or expectation affects the outcome of a situation or the way a person or group will behave. More specifically, as Merton defined, "the self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior, which makes the originally false conception come true".
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Robert K. Merton” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.