ABSTRACT
Of all contemporary theorists of social structure, Robert K. Merton has had the greatest impact on empirical research. Investigators find it easy to understand how Merton's general ideas about social structure imply hypotheses about the pattern of behavior and the pattern Qf associations between variables in the setting in which their research is conducted. The chapter argues that the core process that Merton conceives as central to social structure is the choice between socially structured alternatives. This differs from the choice process of economic theory, in which the alternatives are conceived to have inherent utilities. In "Social Structure and Anomie," Merton talks about American social structure as inducing a high motivation for success in all parts of the class system. In the sociology of science, he talks about the special motivation induced by the social structure of science for prestige, especially prestige by publication.
