Social impact assessment. study related to people directly and indirectly affected by a project. deals with populations, age groups, occupations, relocation possibilities, also studies un intentional social consequences ... etc. for e.g in a Dam project. if there is a 300-400m wide river between two villages where people can walk across it during most of the year, they can easily attend family functions across. but once a dam is built down stream and back water fills up, they can never walk across it.