Hard and soft science

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Hard science and soft science are colloquial terms used to compare scientific fields on the basis of perceived methodological rigor, exactitude, and objectivity. In general, the formal sciences and natural sciences are considered hard science by their practitioners, whereas the social sciences and other sciences are described by them as soft science. Precise definitions vary, but features often cited as characteristic of hard science include producing testable predictions, performing controlled experiments, relying on quantifiable data and mathematical models, a high degree of accuracy and objectivity, higher levels of consensus, faster progression of the field, greater explanatory success, cumulativeness, replicability, and generally applying a purer form of the scientific method. A closely related idea (originating in the nineteenth century with Auguste Comte) is that scientific disciplines can be arranged into a hierarchy of hard to soft on the basis of factors such as rigor, "development", and whether they are basic or applied. Philosophers and historians of science have questioned the relationship between these characteristics and perceived hardness or softness. The more "developed" hard sciences do not necessarily have a greater degree of consensus or selectivity in accepting new results. Commonly cited methodological differences are also not a reliable indicator. For example, social sciences such as psychology and sociology use mathematical models extensively, but are usually considered soft sciences. While scientific controls are cited as a methodological difference between hard and soft sciences, in certain natural sciences, like astronomy and geology, it is impossible to perform controlled experiments to test most hypotheses and observation and natural experiments are primarily used instead. Survey data about the replication crisis among researchers strongly suggests that the failure to reproduce published findings has impacted the natural and applied sciences along with psychology and the social sciences. However, there are some observable differences between hard and soft...