Academics are driven primarily by the intellectual challenge of their work - the buzz of solving problems and thinking up new ideas. What distinguishes social scientists in particular is that the drive is underlined by a social conscience - seldom is it research for its own academic sake.
The social sciences evolve through the constant interchange of the ideas and theories of academics, and the evidence that supports or refutes them.
The tools deployed by the social scientist are both qualitative and quantitative: studies are based on surveys, questionnaires and interviews, or on the analysis of collected statistics.
A traditional academic career usually begins at PhD level, involves a number of short-term contracts as a research assistant, then moves on to a permanent post as a lecturer at a university, culminating in a professorship, often with a whole research group under direction.
But social scientists often ply their trade in other settings - research institutes, think tanks and government departments.
As seen in the following accounts of a day in the life of researchers, time is divided between a host of activities: guiding research projects, writing papers for academic journals, applying for grants, teaching students, attending and organising conferences, and talking to journalists and officials about their work.
It is, by any measure, a hectic but fulfilling life.