Robert K. Merton, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetRobert K. Merton
American sociologist
Date of Birth: 04-Jul-1910
Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Date of Death: 23-Feb-2003
Profession: sociologist
Nationality: United States
Zodiac Sign: Cancer 
About Robert K. Merton
- Robert King Merton (born Meyer Robert Schkolnick; 4 July 1910 – 23 February 2003) was an American sociologist.
- 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.
- He is considered a founding father of modern sociology and a major contributor to criminology. Merton developed 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".
- A central element in modern sociological, political, and economic theory, a self-fulfilling prophecy 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.
- Defined by Merton, "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."Merton's work on the "role model" first appeared in a study on the socialization of medical students at Columbia University.
- The term grew from his theory of the reference group, the group to which individuals compare themselves but to which they do not necessarily belong.
- Social roles were central to Merton's theory of social groups.
- Merton emphasized that, rather than a person assuming one role and one status, they have a status set in the social structure that has, attached to it, a whole set of expected behaviors.
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