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No man knows fully what has shaped his own thinking

— Robert K. Merton Social Theory and Social Structure (1949)

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More quotes by Robert K. Merton

The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behaviour which makes the original false conception come "true".

Social Theory and Social Structure (1949)

By social structure is meant that organized set of social relationships in which members of the society or group are variously implicated.

Social Theory and Social Structure (1949)

Scientific research is not conducted in a social vacuum.

Social structure and anomie (1938)

The ethos of science involves the functionally necessary demand that theories or generalizations be evaluated in [terms of] their logical consistency and consonance with facts.

Merton (1938)

The extreme emphasis upon the accumulation of wealth as a symbol of success in our society militates against the completely effective control of institutionally regulated modes of acquiring a fortune.

Social structure and anomie (1938)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Robert K. Merton (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.