aberrant behavior

anticipatory plagiarism

bureaucrat

certified knowledge

displacement of goals

functional alternative

leadership

matthew effect

opportunity structure

pseudo-gemeinschaft

publication

reference groups

science

self-fulfilling prophecy

social fact

social structure

social time

theory of the middle range

understanding

unintended consequences

utility

nationality

American

religion

Judaism

occupation / innovator as

sociologist

university professor

Columbia University

innovator in the field of

Science and Technology Studies (STS)

sociology

sociology of knowledge

sociology of science

STS scholar

scientist

scientific organization

National Academy of Sciences

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

American Philosophical Society

British Academy

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Academia Europaea

is behavior which, in contrast to rebellious behavior, attempts not to openly violate norms, but to hide violations of social norms while propping up them up.

Further specifying the original model of individual adaptations, Merton now differentiates rebellion, called nonconformist behavior, from innovation, ritualism, and retreatism, termed aberrant behavior. The aberrant types of adaptations involve more self-interested conduct, as 'aberrants try to hide their violations of social norms even as they regard the norms they violate as legitimate As a result, their rule-breaking is socially defined simply as an effort to satisfy their personal interests in normatively unacceptable ways' (Merton, 1995, p. 12). Aberrants, unlike rebels, do not challenge the existing values and goals of a society or group's culture, but rather seek to satisfy their own personal needs. These are precisely the types of persons who are innovators accepting the broader goals, but using illegitimate means to achieve these goals.' (net)

is when someone steals your original idea and publishes it a hundred years before you were born.

Anticipatory plagiarism occurs when someone steals your original idea and publishes it a hundred years before you were born. Robert K. Merton

is one who suffers from 'trained incapacity' resulting from 'overconformity'.

American sociologist Robert K. Merton expanded on Weber's theories of bureaucracy in his work Social Theory and Social Structure, published in 1957. While Merton agreed with certain aspects of Weber's analysis, he also considered the dysfunctional aspects of bureaucracy, which he attributed to a 'trained incapacity' resulting from 'overconformity.' He saw bureaucrats as more likely to defend their own entrenched interests than to act to benefit the organization as a whole. He also believed bureaucrats took pride in their craft, which led them to resist changes in established routines. Merton also noted that bureaucrats emphasized formality over interpersonal relationships, and had been trained to ignore the special circumstances of particular cases, causing them to come across as 'arrogant' and 'haughty.' (wikipedia)

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is an interpersonal relation in which others comply because they want to, not because they have to.

Merton (1969) regarded leadership as 'an interpersonal relation in which others comply because they want to, not because they have to.'

is the phenomenon whereby eminent scientist get the credit or are thought to be the originators of ideas thought by lesser known individuals.

In sociology, 'Matthew effect' was a term coined by Robert K. Merton to describe how, among other things, eminent scientist will often get more credit than a comparatively unknown researcher, even if their work is similar... it also means that credit will usually be given to researchers who are already famous: for example, a prize will almost always be awarded to the most senior researcher involved in a project, even if all the work was done by a graduate student.' (wikipedia)

is the distribution of people's access to occupations and other ways for supporting their live and achieving goals.

The opportunity structure in a society is the distribution of people's access to occupations and other ways for supporting their live and achieving goals. The concept plays a central role in Robert Merton's Theory of Deviance. Merton argues that most societies include some degree of consensus over major values, such as those that define what it means to live a 'good life.' If a culture promotes shared values that define people's goals, but the structure does not provide equal access to legitimate means for achieving those goals, higher levels of deviance will result. . . ..People will be more likely to create innovative and illegal ways of achieving the same goals everyone aspires to. Or they may rebel against the system in various ways to protest the unequal opportunity.'

's production marks the point that a scientist can first claim to have made a contribution.

Only when he has published his ideas and findings has the scientist made his contribution, and only when he has thus made it part of the public domain of scholarship can he truly lay claim to it as his own. For his claim resides only in the recognition accorded by peers in the social system of science through reference to his work. Robert K. Merton

is different from other institutions in that the latter demand unqualified faith while the former makes skepticism a virtue.

Most institutions demand unqualified faith... but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue. Robert K. Merton

Science is public, not private, knowledge. Robert K. Merton

is based on a specious validity wehreby the prophet will cite the actual course of events that his false prophesy set in motion as proof that he was right from the very beginning.

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. The specious validity of the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error. For the prophet will cite the actual course of events as proof that he was right from the very beginning. Robert K. Merton

is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally false conception come true.

is a fact which once defined real by men, becomes then real in its consequences.

W. I. Thomas' sociological theorem-'If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences'-has been repeatedly verified. (merton 1938 331-2)

is the organized set of social relationships in which members of the society or group are variously implicated. Social structure is patterned behavior and relationships.

Social structure. The organized set of social relationships in which members of the society or group are variously implicated. Patterned behavior and relationships. 'The patterned arrangements of role-sets, status-sets, and statussequencescan be held to comprise the social structure.' Merton, Social Theoryand Social Structure. p. 370.

is an understanding of time as qualitative which is important not only for primitive societies, but also for modern industrial states where the rhythms, pulsations, and beats of the societies in which they are found are revealed.

Drawing on Gurdon's (1914) anthropology, they argue that 'systems of time reckoning reflect the social activities of the group' (1937: 620). They show that the concept of qualitative time is important not only for primitive societies, but also for modern industrial states. They suggest that: 'Social time is qualitative and not purely quantitative. . .. These qualities derive from the beliefs and customs common to the group . . . . They serve to reveal the rhythms, pulsations, and beats of the societies in which they are found' ( 193 7: 623).

is an understanding of time whereby meaning comes to associate an event with its temporal setting. The recognition of specific periods is dependent on the degree of significance attributed to them.

Indeed, they take this position a step further. Whereas Evans-Pritchard ( 1940) in his studies of The Nuer illustrated how certain activities give significance to social time. Sorokin and Merton adopt a position more characteristic of the sociology of knowledge. They argue that meaning comes to associate an event with its temporal setting. and that the recognition of specific periods is dependent on the degree of significance attributed to them.

is an understanding of time whereby time is experienced qualitatively rather than quantitatively. Its units are fixed not by the clock but by the rhythm of collective life.

In the American tradition, Sorokin and Merton ( 1937) also highlight this qualitative nature of social time. In so doing. they draw not only on Durkheim. but also, and significantly. on the works of early cultural anthropologist, such as Codrington (1891). Hodson (1908). Nilsonn ( 1920). Best (1922) and Kroeber ( 1923). This synthesis allows Sorokin and Merton to identify qualitative themes at both micro and macro levels. Whilst at the micro level, they emphasize the discontinuity. relativity and specificity of time 'social time is qualitatively differentiated' they also suggest. like Durkheim, that: 'units of time are often fixed by the rhythm of collective life' ( 1937: 615).

is hermeneutically transcendent. One need not be Caesar in order to understand Caesar.

Max Weber was right in subscribing to the view that one need not be Caesar in order to understand Caesar. But there is a temptation for us theoretical sociologist to act sometimes as though it is not necessary even to study Caesar in order to understand him. Yet we know that the interplay of theory and research makes both for understanding of the specific case and expansion of the general rule. Robert K. Merton

is often discovered later. The most esoteric researches have found important applications.

Experience has shown that the most esoteric researches have found important applications. Unless utility and rationality are dismissed beyond recall, it cannot be forgotten that Clerk-Maxwell's speculations on the ether led Hertz to the discovery which culminated in the wireless. And indeed one Nazi spokesman remarks: 'As the practice of today rests on the science of yesterday, so is the research of today the practice of tomorrow.'l3 (Merton 1938 : 325)

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Robert K. Merton