In social science, a social relation or social interaction is any communication between two or more individuals. Social relations derived from individual agency form the support of the social structure and the basic object for analysis by social scientists. Fundamental inquiries into the nature of social relations feature in the work of sociologists such as Max Weber in his theory of social action. Social relationships are a special case of social relations that can exist without any communication taking place between the actors involved. Categorizing social interactions enables observational and other social research, such as Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft,  collective consciousness etc. However different schools and theories of sociology and other social sciences dispute the methods used for such investigations.