When do most workers begin to save toward retirement? What role do television ads play in a voter’s decision-making process? How do children learn to read? The social sciences—psychology, anthropology, political science, speech, communication, sociology, economics, and education—try to answer such questions. The social sciences share with the humanities an interest in what it means to be human, and they share with the natural and applied sciences the goal of engaging in systematic, observable study. All the social sciences aim to identify, understand, and explain patterns of human behavior.