Technology is the combination of any systems, practices, strategies, techniques, and methods employed in the creation of products or services, or in the achievement of specific objectives, like scientific research or military warfare. Technological change is a broad term that includes the entire range of human interaction and the associated technology. It includes the tools, techniques and materials that make up this complex interaction. This rapidly changing field is one of the most dynamic fields in society today.

There are four broad technological areas that define the realm in which we study the relationship between science, technology and society. These are information, communication, energy, and information and computer science. They each have a specific subset of processes and characteristics. In the broadest sense, technology pertains to “the application of science to the creation of new and useful results in many different fields”. In a more exact term, it refers to the process of arriving at a solution to a problem, the ability to gather and harness information, and the utilization of that information in order to provide solutions.

The broad categories of technology also include more specific areas, including Artificial intelligence, computer sciences, cognitive science, engineering, electrical engineering, general engineering, and physics. In addition, there are three broad categories based on the nature of the problem to be solved: technological, commercial, and social. Technological change tends to be cyclical. This means that it has been changing for many years. Since technology is cyclical, it is not likely that a permanent resolution will ever be found in the area of how technology affects culture.

One of the areas of investigation that encompasses all areas of modern technology and the impact it has upon society is cultural change. Cultural change is the significant use and reuse of technologies across various cultures and time periods. This change also takes the form of human artifacts that reflect past ways of doing things, forms of art that represent cultural norms, as well as technologies that serve the needs of particular communities. For example, while jewelry is often considered a cultural marker, the type of necklaces worn by one tribe may be radically different from the type of necklaces worn by another tribe. Similarly, while computers have been the object of desire for some time now, they have not historically been considered a cultural item.

In order to discuss the relationship between culture and technology, it is important to understand the different forms that science takes. Science is an attempt to discover the patterns that govern the forces that produce reality. In order to explain how things like the economy, language, science, technology, and culture interact, it is necessary to bring into play the different forms that science takes. In the case of how science and technology are related, the various disciplines that are involved in this field all use science as a tool. In other words, things like physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, anthropology, sociology, and psychology, among others, all play a role in understanding technology.

While the relationship between science and technology may not be a perfect one, the two things are usually seen as inseparable. The history of science is marked by constant struggles to describe reality, which often leads to disputes between what science can and cannot describe. The technological innovations of modern times have often been met with strong resistance from conservative sectors of society, who argue that things such as automobiles and communications technologies are a waste of time and resources. The future of science and technology is currently seen in an analytical category, incorporating several different things into its realm.