SOCIAL AREA ANALYSIS MAY BE USED AS A QUANTITATIVE TOOL BY PROGRAM PLANNERS AND EVALUATORS CONCERNED WITH PLANNING AND EVALUATING HUMAN SERVICES FOR RESIDENTS WITHIN A DELIMITED REGION (STATE, COUNTY, CITY, OR CATCHMENT AREA). THE TECHNIQUE TYPICALLY INVOLVES FACTOR OR CLUSTER ANALYSIS OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA DESCRIBING THE POPULATION WITHIN A DEFINED GEOGRAPHIC REGION, THE RESULT BEING SUMMARY INDICES OF SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS FOR VARIOUS SUBPOPULATIONS WITHIN THE REGION. THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL AREA ANALYSIS AS A RESEARCH TECHNIQUE IS TRACED, AND TWO ILLUSTRATIVE APPLICATIONS ARE DESCRIBED. THE FIRST APPLICATION INVOLVES ANALYSIS OF AN URBAN REGION'S DEMOGRAPHY AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS WITHIN THE REGION. THE SECOND EXAMPLE DEMONSTRATES HOW SOCIAL AREA ANALYSIS CAN BE INTEGRATED WITHIN A LARGER EVALUATION EFFORT, IN THIS CASE AN ASSESSMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS AND STATE MENTAL HOSPITAL PERFORMANCE. GRAPHS, CHARTS, AND A LIST OF REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--LKM)