A SUMMARY OF THE THREE PRINCIPAL METHODS USED BY ALL SCIENTISTS TO OBTAIN INFORMATION--NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION, EX-POST-FACTO STUDIES, AND EXPERIMENTS-IS PRESENTED, FOLLOWED BY A DISCUSSION OF HYPOTHESES AND THEORIES, SAMPLES AND SAMPLING, AND THE AIMS AND PRACTICAL USEFULNESS OF SOCIAL SCIENCE. THE TERM SOCIAL SCIENCE INCLUDES ANTHROPOLOGY, ECONOMICS, POLITICAL SCIENCE, PSYCHOLOGY, AND SOCIOLOGY, AND EACH OF THESE SCIENCES IS COVERED IN THE TEXT. THE DISCUSSION OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY ADDRESSES THE SUBJECT OF SOCIAL CONTROL AND ITS DIVERSE SYSTEMS AND MECHANISMS. THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OFFERS A VIEW OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS FROM THE TIME OF ANCIENT HUNTING BANDS TO THE CREATION OF THE STATE. THE PLACE OF CRIME AND DEVIANCE WITHIN THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE THAT PRODUCE THE SOCIAL PROBLEMS OF CRIME ARE DESCRIBED. THE SECTION ON PSYCHOLOGY BEGINS WITH A HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY, AND EXAMINES PSYCHOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF NORMALITY AND VARIOUS THEORIES OF DEVIANCE. IT ALSO CONTAINS A DESCRIPTION OF THE LEARNING THEORY OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR; THIS THEORY IS BASED ON EMPIRICAL RESEARCH AND HAS IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS FOR PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. THE ADVANTAGES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ECONOMICS APPROACH TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE ARE PRESENTED AS WELL AS AN OVERVIEW OF FINANCE AND MANAGEMENT IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. FINALLY, THE SECTION ON POLITICAL SCIENCE EXAMINES THE EFFORTS OF COMPLEX SOCIETIES TO COORDINATE BEHAVIOR THROUGH POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS (INVOLVING CONTROL OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIAL GOODS, PRIVILEGES, RIGHTS, OBLIGATIONS) AS WELL AS THE POLITICAL ASPECTS OF CRIME. THIS DISCUSSION CONCENTRATES ON RULEMAKING AND RULEBREAKING. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL FOOTNOTES, A GLOSSARY, AND AN INDEX ARE PROVIDED. (DAG)