The branch of science numerous to the study of communities and the relationships among persons within those societies is known as social science. Previously, the phrase was used to refer to sociology, the first social science, which was founded in the century. It now involves a wide range of academic disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology, economics, human geography, linguistics, management science, political science, psychology, and history, in addition to sociology.

Positivist social scientists explain society using methods similar to those employed in natural sciences, and so define science in the stricter modern sense while the Interpretivist social scientists, may address science in its broadest sense using social critique or symbolic interpretation. Researchers in modern academic work are usually eclectic, employing a variety of methods. Because practitioners from varied areas share the same goals and approaches, the phrase social research has received some autonomy.