“Soft science” refers to scientific fields that rely more on qualitative analysis than rigorous adherence to the scientific method, often seen as inferior to “hard science.” Hard science is based on experiments and direct observation, while soft science may or may not involve experiments. The line between the two is artificial and some scientists prefer to distinguish between good and bad science rather than hard and soft science. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity involved guesswork and a scientific leap of faith.
The term “soft science” is sometimes used to refer to branches of scientific inquiry that rely more on qualitative conjecture and analysis than rigorous adherence to the scientific method. This phrase is often used as a pejorative, differentiating it from “hard science,” with the implication that only hard science is true science. A number of fields could be considered soft science, including social sciences, psychology, and anthropology, although in reality these fields represent a mix of soft and hard science.
In hard science, the focus is on experiments. Researchers set up experiments that can be carefully monitored and reproduced, and they use these experiments to test a hypothesis, collecting data that can be analyzed in various ways to gather information about the outcome of the experiment. Hard science is based on direct observation and prides itself on being as balanced and unbiased as possible. The goal is to get to the facts first.
Soft science may or may not involve experiments, depending on the field, and experiments may be more difficult to control or reproduce. Psychological studies, for example, have a number of variables that cannot be controlled for, making it difficult to analyze data from such experiments or ask other researchers to repeat the experiment. This branch of science uses conjecture and more open discussion, rather than sticking to clearly defined boundaries, facts and arguments, and conjecture in soft science may not be provable with experiments and other research.
Psychology is often used as an example of soft science. Certainly some branches of psychology tend in the soft direction, since this science involves the exploration of the human mind, consciousness and other slippery topics. However, psychologists have also managed to stage highly successful experiments to test hypotheses, and these experiments have clearly been replicable, demonstrating all the traits of hard science.
Some people suggest that the line between soft and hard science is largely artificial and that the differences between the two may be exaggerated. Some scientists agree with this point of view, preferring to distinguish between good and bad science rather than hard science and soft science, and pointing out that many of the alleged “hard sciences”, such as physics, are based on vast leaps of logic and conjecture, particularly at the higher levels. If Einstein had been limited by the confines of science, for example, he could never have invented this Theory of Relativity, since the theory involved a great deal of guesswork and a scientific leap of faith when he first invented it. time.
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