Charles Crothers – författare

This book reintroduces the work of Robert K. Merton as a bridge between classical sociology and modern sociology. Founded in the sociological classics but developing a modern approach to the advancement of theory and research methodology, Merton’s thought helped to construct modern sociology in its coverage of many of the social institutional areas of contemporary society. Recovering and analysing the system of ‘structural analysis’, which Merton progressively developed – a system largely overlooked due to the tendency among commentators to stereotype him as a ‘functionalist’ – the author considers the applications of this approach to various substantive fields, particularly science and criminal justice, and examines the effect of Merton’s later ‘sociological semantics’ on his overall schema. A clear and accessible presentation of the array of concepts introduced by Merton to sociology, Reintroducing Robert K. Merton will appeal to scholars and students with interests in sociological theory, social research, the history of sociology and the various substantive areas covered in the work of Merton – deviance, science, and communications.

This book reintroduces the work of Robert K. Merton as a bridge between classical sociology and modern sociology. Founded in the sociological classics but developing a modern approach to the advancement of theory and research methodology, Merton’s thought helped to construct modern sociology in its coverage of many of the social institutional areas of contemporary society. Recovering and analysing the system of ‘structural analysis’, which Merton progressively developed – a system largely overlooked due to the tendency among commentators to stereotype him as a ‘functionalist’ – the author considers the applications of this approach to various substantive fields, particularly science and criminal justice, and examines the effect of Merton’s later ‘sociological semantics’ on his overall schema. A clear and accessible presentation of the array of concepts introduced by Merton to sociology, Reintroducing Robert K. Merton will appeal to scholars and students with interests in sociological theory, social research, the history of sociology and the various substantive areas covered in the work of Merton – deviance, science, and communications.

Robert K. Merton’s sociological work spans several decades: 1920s (childhood), 1930s (anomie, science, unanticipated), 1940s (housing studies, mass communications, structural-functional analysis, professions, focus groups), 1950s (reference groups), 1960s (ambivalence) and later decades (structural analysis, sociological semantics, cultural sociology). He particularly contributed to sociology during a period when several specialties were being set up and yet his work spans both general and specialist sociologies. He is recognized as the father of anomie/strain theory, focus groups, sociology of science, role set theory, analytical sociology, structural-functional analysis, ambivalence studies and sociological semantics, but always endeavoured to keep the multifarious threads of sociology together. Merton stood at the junction of many other crossroads: classical and modern sociology; American and European sociology; theory and research; philosophy of social science and applied sociology; pure academic sociology and applied sociology; cognitive and social; social sciences and humanities; social sciences and science. Yet the different components of RKM’s work relate to each other. RKM had a major effect on the baby boomer generation of sociology who joined the ranks of sociology at a time of great expansion of university positions across many developed countries. Other generations of sociologists so far less exposed to his work should gain much from consideration of the essays in this volume.

Robert K. Merton’s sociological work spans several decades: 1920s (childhood), 1930s (anomie, science, unanticipated), 1940s (housing studies, mass communications, structural-functional analysis, professions, focus groups), 1950s (reference groups), 1960s (ambivalence) and later decades (structural analysis, sociological semantics, cultural sociology). He particularly contributed to sociology during a period when several specialties were being set up and yet his work spans both general and specialist sociologies. He is recognized as the father of anomie/strain theory, focus groups, sociology of science, role set theory, analytical sociology, structural-functional analysis, ambivalence studies and sociological semantics, but always endeavoured to keep the multifarious threads of sociology together. Merton stood at the junction of many other crossroads: classical and modern sociology; American and European sociology; theory and research; philosophy of social science and applied sociology; pure academic sociology and applied sociology; cognitive and social; social sciences and humanities; social sciences and science. Yet the different components of RKM’s work relate to each other. RKM had a major effect on the baby boomer generation of sociology who joined the ranks of sociology at a time of great expansion of university positions across many developed countries. Other generations of sociologists so far less exposed to his work should gain much from consideration of the essays in this volume.

Dieses Buch bietet die erste umfassende Analyse der verschiedenen neuseeländischen Soziologien vom späten 19. Jahrhundert bis in die Gegenwart. Das Buch beginnt mit bisher nicht dokumentierten Einblicken in die Geschichte der Proto-Soziologie in Neuseeland und untersucht dann die parallelen Geschichten der Disziplin sowohl als Hauptfach in den Soziologieabteilungen als auch als diffusere "Soziologie" innerhalb anderer universitärer Einheiten. Dieses Buch bietet eine wertvolle Studie über die Entwicklung der Soziologie in einem halbperipheren Land.