What is "social science"

Social \So"cial\, a. [L. socialis, from socius a companion; akin to sequi to follow: cf. F. social. See Sue to follow.]

1. Of or pertaining to society; relating to men living in society, or to the public as an aggregate body; as, social interest or concerns; social pleasure; social benefits; social happiness; social duties. ``Social phenomena.''
   --J. S. Mill.

2. Ready or disposed to mix in friendly converse; companionable; sociable; as, a social person.

3. Consisting in union or mutual intercourse.

   Best with thyself accompanied, seek'st not Social communication.
   --Milton.

4. (Bot.) Naturally growing in groups or masses; -- said of many individual plants of the same species.

5. (Zo["o]l.)

   1. Living in communities consisting of males, females, and neuters, as do ants and most bees.

   2. Forming compound groups or colonies by budding from basal processes or stolons; as, the social ascidians.

      Social science, the science of all that relates to the social condition, the relations and institutions which are involved in man's existence and his well-being as a member of an organized community; sociology. It concerns itself with questions of the public health, education, labor, punishment of crime, reformation of criminals, and the like.

      Social whale (Zo["o]l.), the blackfish.

      The social evil, prostitution.

      Syn: Sociable; companionable; conversible; friendly; familiar; communicative; convival; festive.

n. A branch of science that studies the society and human behavior in it, including anthropology, communication studies, criminology, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, social studies, and sociology.

n. the branch of science that studies society and the relationships of individual within a society

Social science is a major category of academic disciplines, concerned with society and the relationships among individuals within a society. It in turn has many branches, each of which is considered a "social science". The main social sciences include economics, political science, human geography, demography and sociology. In a wider sense, social science also includes some fields in the humanities such as anthropology, archaeology, jurisprudence, psychology, history, and linguistics. The term is also sometimes used to refer specifically to the field of sociology, the original 'science of society', established in the 19th century.

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.