soft sciences
Psychology and anthropology
The soft sciences are academic disciplines that study human behavior, society, and culture—psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, political science.
The term contrasts with hard sciences like physics and chemistry, implying these fields are less rigorous or precise because they deal with complex, variable human phenomena rather than controlled experiments.
Psychology is sometimes dismissed as a soft science.
The distinction is contested; many consider it reductive.
Study of human communities
- psychologyStudy of mind, behavior
- anthropologyStudy of human cultures
- economicsScience of resource allocation
- linguisticsScience of language structure
geography · archaeology · education · demography · social work · international relations · criminology · human geography
Study of fundamental truths
- historyRecord of past events
- literatureBody of written works
- classicsWorks of lasting value
- theologyStudy of the divine
ethics · aesthetics · rhetoric · hermeneutics · critical theory · philology · art history · religious studies
Research conducted on location
- surveysSystematic information gathering
- interviewsFormal evaluative conversations
- case studiesDetailed analyses of instances
- ethnographySystematic study of peoples
focus groups · questionnaires · statistical analysis · thick description · coding · sampling · correlation · regression
Manner of conducting oneself
- cultureCollective social practices
- societyOrganized communal human existence
- cognitionMental knowledge acquisition
- identityWho someone is
norms · institutions · socialization · stratification · power dynamics · ideology · discourse · agency
Personal viewpoint coloring perception
- unfalsifiableImpossible to prove wrong
- impreciseLacking exactness or accuracy
- publication biasPreference for significant results
- confounding variablesUncontrolled factors skewing results
measurement error · observer effect · self-reporting · cultural bias · interpretation · generalizability
sociology
Study of human communities
- psychologyStudy of mind, behavior
- anthropologyStudy of human cultures
- economicsScience of resource allocation
linguistics · geography · archaeology · education · demography · social work · international relations · criminology · human geography · gender studies
philosophy
Study of fundamental truths
- historyRecord of past events
- literatureBody of written works
- classicsWorks of lasting value
theology · ethics · aesthetics · rhetoric · hermeneutics · critical theory · philology · art history · religious studies · musicology
fieldwork
Research conducted on location
- surveysSystematic information gathering
- interviewsFormal evaluative conversations
- case studiesDetailed analyses of instances
ethnography · focus groups · questionnaires · statistical analysis · thick description · coding · sampling · correlation · regression · hypothesis testing
behavior
Manner of conducting oneself
- cultureCollective social practices
- societyOrganized communal human existence
- cognitionMental knowledge acquisition
identity · norms · institutions · socialization · stratification · power dynamics · ideology · discourse · agency · structure
subjectivity
Personal viewpoint coloring perception
- unfalsifiableImpossible to prove wrong
- impreciseLacking exactness or accuracy
- publication biasPreference for significant results
confounding variables · measurement error · observer effect · self-reporting · cultural bias · interpretation · generalizability
soft scienceshard sciences
Empirical study of nature
physical sciences · natural sciences · physics · chemistry · mathematics
soft, soften, softly, softness, softer, softest, softening, softened, science