Robert Merton died recently. He was an important sociologist. In the days in which advertising research, psychology, and sociology were well-joined triplets, Merton made important contributions to our field. After the radio research group moved to Columbia, Merton and Lazarsfeld did pioneering work on listening patterns, impact, and research that (perhaps unfortunately) led to our current practice. As The Economist noted in an obituary, Merton is credited with the invention of focus groups. This was not to evade quantitative research (as so often happens today) but rather to explore the personal feelings and responses to media that both preceded and followed up good quantitative research. To me, it is enlightening to see how these pioneers, including Merton, either stumbled on or brilliantly intuited many of the media and advertising research techniques we use now.