ABSTRACT
Although we have described a number of basic weaknesses in functionalism as a theory, it could be argued that they are not very important. The allegiance of many sociologists to functionalism has in fact been based on its ‘heuristic’ value-that is, its usefulness as a way of asking questions-and they have been rather suspicious of the inclination shown by some of their colleagues to go in for huge systems of speculation unrelated to evidence. Merton himself appealed for the creation and scientific testing of ‘theories of the middle range’—in other words, explanations, directed at strictly delimited topics.
