Merton and Lazarsfeld: Collaboration on Communication Research—Two Papers, Two Research Instruments,and Two Kindred Concepts
Merton and Lazarsfeld: Collaboration on Communication Research—Two Papers, Two Research Instruments,and Two Kindred Concepts

Summary/Abstract: This article looks at the decades-long history of collaboration between Robert K. Merton and Paul F. Lazarsfeld on communication research. This period in the lives of both of these social scientists represented just one stage in their scientifi c careers. Merton was an important sociological theorist and Lazarsfeld an infl uential methodologist and the inventor of a new model of empirical social research. This article focuses on the fruits of the relatively unusual cooperation betweeen a sociological theorist and an empirical researcher on the construction of a new scientifi c sub-fi eld—communication research. The article aims to demonstrate how the combination of Lazarsfeld’s methodological experience and Merton’s theoretical skills boosted the success of their research efforts and what new and important results their cooperation brought to the fi elds of sociological theory and research methodology.

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