New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Social science

Social science is an academic discipline concerned with society and the relationships among individuals within a society, which often rely primarily on empirical approaches. It includes anthropology, economics, political science, psychology and sociology. In a wider sense, it may often include some fields in the humanities such as archaeology, history, law, and linguistics.

Positivist social scientists use methods resembling those of the natural sciences as tools for understanding society, and so define science in its stricter modern sense. Interpretivist social scientists, by contrast, may use social critique or symbolic interpretation rather than constructing empirically falsifiable theories, and thus treat science in its broader sense. In modern academic practice, researchers are often eclectic, using multiple methodologies (for instance, by combining the quantitative and qualitative techniques). The term social research has also acquired a degree of autonomy as practitioners from various disciplines share in its aims and methods.

Related Stories
 


Science & Society News

July 29, 2025

Between 2020 and 2024, COVID-19 vaccines saved 2.5 million lives globally, preventing one death for every 5,400 doses. A groundbreaking worldwide study led by researchers from Università Cattolica and Stanford University reveals that most lives ...
Scientists at the University of Toronto have developed a new non-stick material that rivals the performance of traditional PFAS-based coatings while using only minimal amounts of these controversial ...
AI-generated videos are becoming dangerously convincing and UC Riverside researchers have teamed up with Google to fight back. Their new system, UNITE, can detect deepfakes even when faces aren't ...
Even people who never caught Covid-19 may have aged mentally faster during the pandemic, according to new brain scan research. This large UK study shows how the stress, isolation, and upheaval of lockdowns may have aged our brains, especially in ...
A surprising discovery from Emory University shows that psilocin, the active metabolite of psychedelic mushrooms, can delay cellular aging and extend lifespan. Human cells lived over 50% longer, and mice treated with psilocybin not only lived 30% ...
In a groundbreaking UK first, eight healthy babies have been born using an IVF technique that includes DNA from three people—two parents and a female donor. The process, known as pronuclear ...
President Trump s diagnosis of Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI) has brought renewed attention to a frequently overlooked yet dangerous condition. CVI affects the ability of veins especially in the legs to return blood to the heart, often leading ...
Medieval medicine is undergoing a reputation makeover. New research reveals that far from being stuck in superstition, early Europeans actively explored healing practices based on nature, observation, and practical experience—some of which ...
A massive spike in young children accidentally ingesting nicotine pouches has alarmed poison control researchers, with a 763% rise reported between 2020 and 2023. Unlike other nicotine products, ...
Movement helps your mood, but it's not one-size-fits-all. Exercising for fun, with friends, or in enjoyable settings brings greater mental health benefits than simply moving for chores or obligations. Researchers emphasize that context — who ...
Less than a quarter of us hit WHO activity targets, but a new UCL study suggests the trick may be matching workouts to our personalities: extroverts thrive in high-energy group sports, neurotics ...
A new UCL study reveals that aligning workouts with personality boosts fitness and slashes stress—extroverts thrive on HIIT, neurotics favor short, private bursts, and everyone benefits when enjoyment leads the ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56 pm ET