soft science

soft science

English

Noun

soft science (plural soft sciences)

1. A field of scientific inquiry that is limited by the nature of its subject matter in its ability to establish strictly measurable criteria.

Usage notes

Most people consider fields such as psychology, sociology, political science, and economics to be soft sciences. Some consider anthropology to be a soft science, while others consider it to be a quasiscience.

Coordinate terms

• hard science

Translations

field of inquiry

Chinese: Mandarin: 軟科學／软科学 (ruǎnkēxué) Dutch: please add this translation if you can Finnish: pehmeä tiede (especially used in plural), humanistinen tiede German: inexakte Wissenschaft f, weiche Wissenschaft f

See also

• natural science versus social science
• pure science versus applied science
• formal science versus quasiscience
• sociology of science