GIVEN THE MULTITUDE OF SUCH STUDIES AND THEIR INCREASING STATISTICAL COMPLEXITY, A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF DELINQUENCY IS PARAMOUNT. IN MUCH OF THIS WORK, THE OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH HAVE BECOME BLURRED, CONCEPTUAL DIFFICULTIES AND AMBIGUITIES HAVE BEEN OVERLOOKED, AND CONCLUSIONS HAVE BEEN PRESENTED AS IF A TECHNICALLY SOPHISTICATED METHODOLOGY OBVIATED THE NEED FOR CAREFUL EXPLANATION. HOWEVER, PROMISING DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER WORK EXIST, AND PARTICULAR ATTENTION SHOULD BE PAID TO RESEARCH STIMULATED IN RECENT YEARS BY OSCAR NEWMAN'S BOOK DEFENSIBLE SPACE (1972) WITH ITS EMPHASIS ON ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN IN CRIME PREVENTION. NEW SOURCES OF CRIME DATA--PARTICULARLY VICTIMIZATION STUDIES AND SELF-REPORTED DELINQUENCY STUDIES--MAY ENRICH AREAL RESEARCH. RESEARCH THAT EXPLORES THE COMPLEX SOCIAL PROCESSES WHICH OPERATE TO CREATE DELINQUENCY AREAS WILL ULTIMATELY PRODUCE MORE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SUCH AREAS THAN WILL COMPLEX STATISTICAL CORRELATIONS. FOOTNOTES AND REFERENCES ARE GIVEN. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--MJW)