Many Approaches, but Few Arrivals
Merton and the Columbia Model of Theory Construction
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7101152 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stephen Turner (0000-0002-7538-0533, University of South Florida, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 174-211 |
| Publication date | 2009-01-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Philosophy of the Social Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0048-3931 • E-ISSN: 1552-7441 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0048393108326484 |
| OpenAlex | W2104716941 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 20 |
| References cited | 44 |
Robert Merton's essays on theories of the middle range and his essays on functional explanation and the structural approach are among the most influential in the history of sociology. But their import is a puzzle. He explicitly allied himself with some of the most extreme scientistic formalists and contributed to and endorsed the Columbia model of theory construction. But Merton never responded to criticisms by Ernest Nagel of his arguments or acknowledged the rivalry between Lazarsfeld and Herbert Simon, rarely cited the philosophical and methodological literature, and responded to critics with ambiguous concessions, leaving the Mertonian legacy profoundly ambiguous
Economics · Epistemology · Rivalry · Sociology · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Critical Realism in Sociology · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science
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What is a method? On the different uses of the term method in sociology
What’s the Point? A Presentist Social Functionalist Account of Institutional Purpose
The Assault Badly Misses the Mark
Shrinking Merton
The Manhattan Project and Its Long Shadow
A More Sophisticated Merton
Merton's Flawed and Incomplete Methodological Program
Recent writings on Robert K Merton
Sociology can have laws
A dynamic and multifunctional account of middle-range theories
Bastler — Sammler — Spurensucher. Zum Verhältnis von Geschichte und Systematik der soziologischen Theorie nach Robert K. Merton
Charles Tilly and American Pragmatism
Robert K. Merton
The language of social research
Meaning and understanding in the history of ideas
Constructing the Subject
Causality
The structure of scientific revolutions
The Functions of Social Conflict
Social Theory and Social Practice
The American Soldier
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
The Rules of Sociological Method
Merton's Ambivalence Towards Autonomous Theory -- and Ours
The Sociological Imagination
Social Science and Social Policy
The Scope and Language of Science
Social Theory and Social Structure
III. Some Problems in the Analysis of Political Thought and Action
Observations on Some Tribulations of Civility
The Role-Set
Conventions and the Understanding of Speech Acts
The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action
Survey Design and Analysis
"Deductions from "Axiomatic Theory
The Position of Sociological Theory
The Bearing of Empirical Research upon the Development of Social Theory
Presidential Address
Human Behavior
Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas
Motives, Intentions and the Interpretation of Texts
Durkheim, Booth and Yule
Durkheim among the statisticians
Middle-range realism
The Causal Devolution
Blau's Theory of Differentiation
On Understanding a Sociological Classic
Durkheim's Suicide and Problems of Empirical Research
Sociological Theory
| Unique citing works | 20 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,18 |
| Citation span | 2009 - 2026 (18) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 19 |