The study of humankind is known as social science or social studies. It differs from humanities primarily by its use of scientific method. Despite this difference, some are unwilling to accept social sciences as a science because it involves the study of people themselves, rather than more physical and measurable objects. The mission of social science is to research and expatiate all social phenomena and their development rule.

Social sciences developed during the eighteenth century and by the twentieth century studies used more statistical and quantitative evidence than the theoretical evidence of the nineteenth century. The first social science to develop was economics, which is the study of the distribution of resources and wealth throughout society. Other social sciences to develop soon after were anthropology, which is concerned with the classification of society by various measures, political sciences, which is concerned with the governance of society, sociology, which is concerned with human relationships and psychology, which is concerned with human thought and behaviors.