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Definition:
Robert King Merton was a sociologist who in 1949 developed "middle range" theory, which at least tried to build a way to scientifically test what had become to him maddeningly broad range abstract concepts that were then forming in the science. Middle range theory was implanted into archaeology later by Lewis Binford.
Related Terms
• Lewis Binford
• Middle Range Theory
Biographies
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Social Theory and Social Structure
Excerpts from Merton's paper defining 'middle range.'
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Robert King Merton [b 1910]
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