Social sciences are concerned with humanities aspects of the world, emphasizing experimentation and scientific methods. They include anthropology, linguistics, education, political science, psychology, and sociology. The study of education, anthropology, and linguistics often overlap. Law, political science, and history study governments, social structures, and past civilizations. Psychology studies the human mind, while sociology studies people in general. Social sciences are often referred to as “soft sciences” due to their qualitative methods and personal interpretation. The social sciences have existed since ancient Greece, and modern application of the scientific method to human thoughts and relationships was popularized in the early 20th century.
The social sciences are one of the three divisions of science, along with the natural and formal sciences. The social sciences are concerned with the “humanities” aspects of the world, such as the arts and various cultures, although they place an emphasis on experimentation and the use of the scientific method. Because the methods used in these disciplines are often qualitative, or non-numerical, and often based on personal interpretation, they are commonly referred to as the “soft sciences” in contrast to the “hard” natural and formal sciences. The social sciences encompass a wide range of subjects such as anthropology, linguistics and education as well as political science and psychology.
Education, anthropology and linguistics
The study of education is one of the most important social sciences and often develops new ideas about how people learn and develop. Anthropologists commonly study past human societies and civilizations to better understand the history of mankind, often finding common themes across different cultures. Linguistics is the study of language and how people communicate through sounds and spoken words. These topics are often studied together, as an understanding of linguistics is important for teaching people, and anthropology examines the education and language of past civilizations.
Law, political science and history
The social sciences include the study of law, which governs the rules created by governments and people to ensure a more orderly society. Similarly, political science is the study of governments and how people form social structures to rule or govern a population. Historians look to past civilizations and events to learn from earlier times and better understand the context of modern issues or cultures.
psychology and sociology
Psychologists study the human mind and try to understand how people experience the world through various emotions, ideas and conscious states. Some of these studies have moved into biology, as some psychologists examine the chemical reactions and physical elements involved in human consciousness. Sociologists study people in general, focusing on different modern cultures or social subgroups. The study of sociology often involves groups of people, rather than individuals, and understands how people relate to each other and function as a society.
Categorization as Soft Science
Today, millions of people work professionally in the social sciences. Since human relationships and qualities are very complex, in some fields there is no objective truth and much work is based on interpretation. What defines “truth” in the social sciences is more often opinion than fact, making social science findings potentially less reliable than those of the more difficult sciences. Experimentation is still a big part of this field, however, and so an anthropologist’s “opinions” are usually backed up by years of research and study.
A brief history of the social sciences
The social sciences have existed since at least ancient Greece, where philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle studied many aspects of the world. For these thinkers, there was no fundamental distinction between the social sciences and the natural sciences as there is today. Disciplines such as geometry and sociology were mixed and practiced by the same communities.
Although the social sciences have been explored throughout history, scholars popularized the modern application of the scientific method to human thoughts and relationships in the early 20th century. Prior to this, there were thinkers like John Dewey who sought to combine the scientific method with social issues, paying particular attention to Darwin’s influence on philosophy. Science today is much more specialized and complex, requiring experts in individual fields.
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