soft science


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soft science

n
(Education) a science, such as sociology or anthropology, that deals with humans as its principle subject matter, and is therefore not generally considered to be based on rigorous experimentation
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

soft′ sci′ence


n.
any of the scientific disciplines, as those which study human behavior or institutions, in which strictly measurable criteria are difficult to obtain. Compare hard science.
[1965–70]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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This novel is soft science fiction, filled with lush descriptions that portray a sleek future.
Being held at College of Science and Technology at Rinchending in Phuentsholing, the theme of this year's science conference is 'Strengthening Nations and Spreading Happiness.' Coming from many countries, the participants will read research papers covering 21 hard science and technology and soft science areas such as agricultural sciences, biological sciences, environmental sciences, chemical sciences, material sciences, mathematics, statistics, pharmaceutical sciences, earth science, geology and physical sciences.
"There's a lot of soft science out there and theories about the formula of what a plant needs and what we have works exceptionally well.
Soft science, associated with influencing enemy and friendly intentions, is applied under a constantly changing context.
All editors have backgrounds in the social or soft science. Without hard evidence, this author can surmise that many go into the field to teach students in their areas of expertise.
I have always composed research papers in a manner that the reader appreciates not only the hard science outcomes, but the soft science text and verse adds great value.
He said: "When you compare it with what has happened in other soft science subjects, particularly areas like sport science, which is topical at the moment, it pales into insignificance.
The one study that has explored stress differences between "hard" and "soft" academic majors unfortunately did not report demographic information, did not provide clear criteria for categorizing "hard" and "soft" majors, used a single item to measure reported stress, and reported the same frequency of "stressed" hard and soft science majors (n = 31) while finding contradictory stress differences between academic majors depending on the physiological indicator of stress examined (Myrtek et al., 1997).
One such challenge is the notion that health communication is a "soft science." Occasionally, environmental scientists believe they already are effective health communicators, and they may bypass health communication professionals.
It's a way to take the soft science of human resources and make it hard.
"Metagenomics is still a 'soft science', where precise identification of species abundance in complex samples is very, very challenging," said Nekrutenko.