Social Theory and Social Structure was a landmark publication in sociology by Robert K. Merton. It has been translated into close to 20 languages and is one of the most frequently cited texts in social sciences. It was first published in 1949, although revised editions of 1957 and 1968 are often cited. In 1998 the International Sociological Association listed this work as the third most important sociological book of the 20th century.

The book introduced many important concepts in sociology, like: manifest and latent functions and dysfunctions, obliteration by incorporation, reference groups, self-fulfilling prophecy, middle-range theory and others.

社会理论和社会结构》是罗伯特-K-默顿（Robert K. Merton）在社会学领域的一个里程碑式的出版物。它已被翻译成近20种语言，是社会科学中最常被引用的文本之一。它首次出版于1949年，尽管1957年和1968年的修订版经常被引用。1998年，国际社会学协会将这部作品列为20世纪第三重要的社会学书籍。

该书介绍了社会学中的许多重要概念，如：显性和隐性功能和功能障碍、通过纳入而遗忘、参照群体、自我实现的预言、中庸理论等。