Robert Merton: Sociologist Who Shaped Modern Theory

Introduction: Life and Background of Robert Merton

Robert Merton (1910–2003) was a sociologist who founded the sociology of science and was known for his theoretical work in the analysis of social structures — particularly the intended and unintended results of social action. He was also the first sociologist in history to be awarded the National Medal of Science (Hollander).

Merton was born in Philadelphia in 1910. His birth name was Meyer R. Schkolnick, which he kept until the age of fourteen. He was the second of two children born to parents who had immigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe. His father worked as a truck driver and carpenter and found the family a home in the slums of South Philadelphia. Robert grew up fighting for survival in those streets, running with one of the many gangs that roamed the neighborhoods. But he also loved learning, and frequent trips to the local library found him reading widely — especially biography. When he was twelve, he turned to magic and adopted a new name — Robert Merton, modified from "Merlin" — to earn a little money performing tricks for neighborhood residents (Crothers, p. 24).

He graduated from South Philadelphia High School for Boys in 1927 and won a scholarship to university, where he excelled and earned a reputation as an exceptionally intelligent student. He studied philosophy for a year before switching to sociology in his sophomore year after taking a course with George E. Simpson. His intelligence and studious habits led him to become Simpson's research assistant (Crothers, p. 24).

Merton earned his B.A. in 1931 and received a fellowship for graduate work at Harvard, where he studied under prominent scholars including Talcott Parsons, George Sarton, Pitirim Sorokin, and L. J. Henderson. By 1934, he had married Suzanne Carhart, a social worker he had met at university, and was appointed as an instructor at Harvard.

Merton also formed a close intellectual relationship with George Sarton, the historian of science at Harvard. That relationship extended well beyond their shared years there, continuing through an ongoing exchange of letters. By the time he was forty, Merton was one of the most influential social scientists in the country and had begun what would become a long and distinguished career at Columbia University (Calhoun).

Some of his earliest writings, produced between 1934 and 1935, covered a range of sociological subjects: "Recent French Sociology," "The Course of Arabian Intellectual Development, 700–1300 A.D.," "Fluctuations in the Rate of Industrial Invention," and "Science and Military Technique." Then, in 1938, he published his first major study, Science, Technology, and Society in Seventeenth Century England (Calhoun).

Having joined the Columbia faculty in 1941, Merton's intellect, charisma, and talent helped build what became perhaps the most powerful and prominent sociology department not only in the United States, but in the world. His talent — and his secret — was to focus on "middle range" theory rather than the abstract, long-term, and vague speculation that sociology had depended upon for so long.

He used everyday life to create his theories. The phrase "self-fulfilling prophecy," now widely used in common speech, was coined by Merton. He developed the concept of role models, and, together with colleagues, created the "focused interview," which gave rise to the "focus group" — now a standard tool of business and industry, though that was not his original intent (Hollander).

Human interaction and observation were central to Merton's thinking. He used logic grounded in those interactions and observations. It was often said of him that most of his conclusions seemed so commonsensical and so obviously transparent — once he pointed them out — that one could hardly imagine not having known them already.

One classic example of his sociological insight appeared in a graduate paper he wrote in the mid-1930s titled "Social Structure and Anomie." He asked what might bring on a state of anomie — the breakdown of social standards so severe it threatens to tear apart all social cohesion. Merton argued that this condition would arise when society's members were prevented from achieving the cultural goals that defined their society — wealth, power, and fame, for instance.