Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals 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. In addition to sociology, it now encompasses a wide array of academic disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology, economics, human geography, linguistics, management science, communication science, psychology and political science.
Early censuses and surveys provided demographic data.
Buyers bargain for good prices while sellers put forth their best front in Chichicastenango Market, Guatemala.
A depiction of world's oldest university, the University of Bologna, in Italy
A trial at a criminal court, the Old Bailey in London
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societies are characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent members.
Ant social ethology: Ants are eusocial insects. The social group enables its members to benefit in ways that would not otherwise be possible on an individual basis.
José Rizal, a theorist of colonial societies
San people in Botswana start a fire by hand.
Maasai men perform adumu, the traditional jumping dance.
