social engineering

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The practical application of sociological principles to particular social problems.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun sociology Use of numerical data to inform social programs.
• noun political science Use of propaganda by a government to sway perceptions and attitudes of its own citizenry
• noun computer security The practice of tricking a user into giving, or giving access to, sensitive information, thereby bypassing most or all protection