The Serendipity of Merton's Communications Research
International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 17 (3):
277--297 (2005)DOI: 10.1093/ijpor/edh068
Abstract
Though not as well-known as other of his writings, Robert K. Merton's communications research represents an important body of work. From 1941, when he first joined forces with Paul Lazarsfeld at Columbia University, through 1949, when he published his last articles in the area, Merton was active in the overlapping fields of propaganda, public opinion, and communications research. He codified methods, formulated middle range concepts, and composed a small but distinctive corpus that remains useful for contemporary study. Borrowing one of Merton's own concepts, this essay argues that his communications research was serendipitous—an unplanned, surprising, but highly productive episode in his nine-decade 'life of learning'. Not only was communications research the vehicle through which he and Lazarsfeld initially forged their famous partnership, it also helped Merton advance his own sociological thinking and yielded some of the best work on mass media published before 1950. Following the logic of the idea of serendipity, I trace the development of Merton's communications research from his unplanned preparation in the 1930s, through the structured opportunity he ambivalently embraced working with Lazarsfeld during the war, and on to some of the more significant consequences that followed.