Editing Social science (section)

{{Short description|Branch of science that studies society and its relationships}}
{{About||the integrated field of study intended to promote civic competence|Social studies|the social-political-economic theory first pioneered by Karl Marx|Scientific socialism}}
{{Redirect|Social Sciences}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Science|Branches}}

'''Social science''' (often rendered in the plural as the '''social sciences''') is one of the [[branches of science]], devoted to the study of [[society|societies]] and the [[Social relation|relationships]] among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of [[sociology]], the original "science of society", established in the 18th century. It now encompasses a wide array of additional [[academic discipline]]s, including [[anthropology]], [[archaeology]], [[economics]], [[geography]], [[history]], [[linguistics]], [[management]], [[communication studies]], [[psychology]], [[culturology]], and [[political science]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-science|title = Social science: History, Disciplines, Future Development, & Facts |encyclopedia=Britannica|date = April 27, 2023 }}</ref>

The majority of [[Positivism|positivist]] social scientists use methods resembling those used in the [[natural science]]s as tools for understanding societies, and so define science in its stricter [[Modern science|modern sense]]. Speculative social scientists, otherwise known as [[Antipositivism|interpretivist]] scientists, by contrast, may use social critique or symbolic interpretation rather than constructing [[Empiricism|empirically]] falsifiable theories, and thus treat science in its broader sense.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Little |first=William |url=https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology/ |title=Introduction to Sociology – 1st Canadian Edition |date=November 6, 2014 |publisher=BCampus |chapter=1}}</ref> In modern academic practice, researchers are often [[Eclecticism|eclectic]], using multiple [[Methodology|methodologies]] (combining both [[quantitative research|quantitative]] and [[qualitative research]]).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Timans |first1=Rob |last2=Wouters |first2=Paul |last3=Heilbron |first3=Johan |title=Mixed methods research: what it is and what it could be |journal=Theory and Society |date=April 2019 |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=193–216 |doi=10.1007/s11186-019-09345-5 |hdl=1887/78033 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> To gain a deeper understanding of complex human behavior in digital environments, social science disciplines have increasingly integrated interdisciplinary approaches, big data, and computational tools.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zhou |first=Hongyu |last2=Guns |first2=Raf |last3=Engels |first3=Tim C. E. |date=2022 |title=Are social sciences becoming more interdisciplinary? Evidence from publications 1960–2014 |url=https://asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.24627 |journal=Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology |language=en |volume=73 |issue=9 |pages=1201–1221 |doi=10.1002/asi.24627 |issn=2330-1643|hdl=10067/1862090151162165141 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The term [[social research]] has also acquired a degree of autonomy as practitioners from various disciplines share similar goals and methods.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhattacherjee |first=Anol |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=oa_textbooks |title=Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices |date=2012 |publisher=University of South Florida}}</ref>