Robert K. Merton

(1910 - 2003)

Beginning in the 1940s at Columbia University, Robert K. Merton collaborated with Paul Lazarsfeld for over thirty years, their work strongly influencing the development of social science and also giving rise to the concept of focus groups. Merton invented the terms “self-fulfilling prophecy,” “unintended consequences,” and “role model.” His son, Robert C. Merton, received the Nobel Prize in Economic Science in 1997.