What do social scientists do?

Social scientists seek a deep and broad understanding of how social relations do and should work. We do so with careful reference to the historical record, to the evidence, and to the diverse models for social life that have been concocted throughout human history and around the globe. No other branch of human inquiry can offer that!

We do of course rely upon the admirable work of our colleagues in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the formal/deductive sciences. Yet as such an enterprise, we offer an intellectual culture distinct from those three, with our own valuable tools and approaches to offer to the world. Above all else, this culture aims to foster creative, deep thinking about the world and its problems; to encourage people everywhere to be imaginative, ethical problem solvers; and to give them the skills by which they can face a turbulent world and earn a decent living.