THE TERM 'SOCIAL INDICATORS' REFERS TO A VARIETY OF MEASURES INDICATIVE OF SOCIAL TRENDS THAT ARE USED IN MONITORING AND ANALYZING SOCIAL CHANGE, THE QUALITY OF LIFE, OR SOCIAL WELL-BEING. THESE INDICATORS ARE DERIVED FROM DATA COLLECTED ON A WIDE RANGE OF SOCIAL VARIABLES, BOTH OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE. THE INTEREST IN SOCIAL INDICATORS HAS STIMULATED A REVIVAL OF INTEREST IN QUANTITATIVE, COMPARATIVE SOCIAL ANALYSIS, IN THE ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL CHANGE, IN CONCEPTUAL WORK AND MEASUREMENT ON SUCH TOPICS AS PREJUDICE AND CRIME, AND IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL PROCESS MODELS. THE INCREASED DEMAND FOR SOCIAL EXPERIMENTATION AND EVALUATION IS EXPLAINED BY FOUR FACTORS: (1) INCREASED COMPETITION FOR MONETARY RESOURCES HAS PROCUCED INCREASED PRESSURE UPON PUBLIC AGENCIES FOR GREATER ACCOUNTABILITY; (2) SUCH RESEARCH REPRESENTS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE TO RESOLVE SOCIAL PROBLEMS; (3) DESPITE THE RISE AND EXPANSION OF SOCIAL ACTION PROGRAMS, THERE APPEARS TO BE LITTLE OR NO CORRESPONDING DECLINE IN THE NUMBER OR SEVERITY OF PROBLEMS THEY WERE DESIGNED TO ALLEVIATE; AND (4) THERE IS WIDESPREAD ADOPTION OF THE NOTION OF EVALUATION ITSELF AS PART OF AN EXPERIMENT IN SOCIAL REFORM. LONGITUDINAL RESEARCH INVOLVES MAKING COMPARABLE MEASURES OR OBTAINING COMPARABLE DATA FROM THE SAME INDIVIDUALS OVER TIME. THIS METHOD HAS BEEN OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO PSYCHOLOGISTS IN STUDYING DEVELOPMENT, PERSONALITY, AND ABILITY PATTERNS SUCH AS INTELLIGENCE AND TO ECONOMISTS IN STUDYING SOCIAL TRENDS AND SOCIAL CHANGE. THE DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH INFORMATION THROUGH THE LIBRARY IS DISCUSSED. REFERENCES ARE CITED. (DP)