Malavika G NairAIR 45 · CSE 2024 · 173 wordsTheir whole copy
Opening
Merton's essay 'Bearings of theory on Research' deals with the fact how research leads to theory formation rather than play a passive role.
Body · points
→ Research can trigger new theories with new strategic data e.g. Hawthorne studies started as enquiry into illumination but founded human relation approach.
→ Research can reformulate existing theories e.g. Durkheim's views on religion as society divinized than supernatural worship.
→ Research can broaden the area of theory into uncharted areas e.g. rise of personalities role through inkblot test etc. in social research.
→ Research can clarify existing theories e.g: Goldthorpe and Lockwoods study confirmed Jesse Bernard & Clark Kerr's embourgeoisement theory
→ LIMITATIONS
↳ Research usually plays a passive role in proving theories eg: Mertonian or functionalist views (Parsons)
→ Deductive logic is mostly used in social science where theory building comes first than research.
→ Research could be limited through field limitations, nativization bias, ethnocentrism etc affecting theories eg: Srinivas' views are Brahmanical due to fieldwork.
Close · a summary
But as Merton proved, research and theory building go hand in hand.