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:
“Our children do not want models of perfection, neither do they want us to be buddies, friends, or confidants who never rise above their own levels of maturity and experience. We need to walk that middle ground between perfection and peerage, between intense meddling and apathy—the middle ground where our values, standards, and expectations can be shared with our children.”
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)
“In the range of things toddlers have to learn and endlessly review—why you can’t put bottles with certain labels in your mouth, why you have to sit on the potty, why you can’t take whatever you want in the store, why you don’t hit your friends—by the time we got to why you can’t drop your peas, well, I was dropping a few myself.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)
“Thus the theory of description matters most.
It is the theory of the word for those
For whom the word is the making of the world,
The buzzing world and lisping firmament.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)