In other words, it can be said that many traditions They continue to provide stability to the society for generations, they sometimes or in a particular period either prove to be useless or create a condition of change in the society (for example, the traditional functions of the caste system in India in its present times. Merton rejected this belief, saying that it is not necessary that every tradition as an established element of culture must necessarily contribute to the maintenance of society. Explaining this, Malonsky wrote, “Every type of civilization, custom, material element, thought and belief, etc., fulfills certain social functions.” On the basis of this belief, Kluckhohn also said that “any A culture cannot protect its existence unless it performs certain functions in which the quality of adjustment or adaptation is inherent.

A traditional belief of functionalism was also that the functions of different units maintain the existence of a social and cultural system. (2) Postulate of Universal Functionalism. With the help of this, it can be understood that how and how much the functions of different units contribute in producing social integration in a particular society. From this point of view it is necessary to understand the characteristics of the functions of different units while doing functional analysis. This means that the ‘practices’ or ‘behaviors’ which are functional in a society may also be non-functional in another society or group. It is true that some unity must exist in every society, but this level of integration may be different in Vamana societies. And this unity is possible only by the functions of the units that make up the social structure.In this regard, Merton wrote that on the basis of this assumption, the functional unity of the society mentioned by the anthropologists, its reality can be known through examination. It is clear from this that a certain kind of unity is found in every social system. Radcliffe Brown wrote that “the function of a particular social practice or behavior is its contribution to the whole social life and social system by which that system becomes functional. Some work must be done for the arrangement. (1) Postulate of the Functional Unity of Society – Prior to Merton, Radcliffe Brown and Malinowski had given special importance to the belief that all units that make up a social structure are social. Mutton’s views in this regard can be understood as follows:

On this basis, Merton, while criticizing these assumptions, considered the format of functional analysis presented by him to be more appropriate. On the basis of his study, Merton pointed out that these assumptions presented by anthropologists are not only very controversial but have also proved to be useless in functional studies. sustain the existence of a social and cultural order, and (3) functions are the inevitable result of each element or unit. These beliefs were mainly three : (1) all the units that make up a social structure must perform some function within the social system, (2) these functions of social units itself. The form in which functionalism was developed by anthropologists prior to Merton was based on several assumptions.

Structural functional theory merton