Elementary school social studies research, virtually all of which began in the 1960's, is clustered and summarized. No deliberate attempt was made to evaluate methods or particular findings. The following sections are included in these categories: 1) Goals: for education, social studies content, attitudes and values, behaviors and process, citizenship, and a national view; 2) Curriculum: early efforts, new developments, and trends and appraisals; 3) Children: knowledge prior to instruction, concepts of time, map skills and concepts of space, concepts, and social values and attitudes; 4) Learning and Inquiry: learning as inquiry, skills of inquiry and problem solving, questioning and thinking, and methods and techniques that encourage inquiry; 5) Educational Media: reading materials, visual and audio materials, other media, and comparative studies of methods and techniques; 6) Evaluation: promising techniques, expert approaches, and curriculum evaluation; and, 7) Teacher Education: teacher competencies, preservice, and inservice. The author concludes that many questions in elementary social studies are unanswered in spite of the amount of research, and calls for a national clearinghouse for socal studies education. A 351-item bibliography is appended. (DJB)