Middle Range Theory

Middle range theory can refer to theories in:

  • Middle-range theory (archaeology) - describes how people use objects and structures and the human behaviors associated with this use; it is based on the more known
  • Middle range theory (sociology) - as discussed by Robert K. Merton is a theory with limited scope, that explains a specific set of phenomena, as opposed to a grand theory like that proposed by Talcott Parsons that seeks to explain phenomena at a societal level.

Famous quotes containing the words middle, range and/or theory:

    Oh, yes, everything’s fine. I always stop by the police station in the middle of the night to pick up my daughter.
    —Theodore Simonson. Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr.. Mr. Martin, The Blob, when he comes to pick up Jane (1958)

    [F]or as Socrates says that a wise man is a citizen of the world, so I thought that a wise woman was equally at liberty to range through every station or degree of men, to fix her choice wherever she pleased.
    Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)

    The great tragedy of science—the slaying of a beautiful theory by an ugly fact.
    Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)