Three publications ("Dissertation Abstracts International,""Social Education," and "Theory and Research in Social Education") are reviewed to determine trends in types of social studies research conducted between 1977 and 1984. Using a four-fold classification system, 159 studies are surveyed. Results show an overwhelming predominance of analytic research, with 48.5 percent of the research labeled as analytic science research, 15.8 percent as conceptual theory research, 15.7 percent as particular study research, and 22 percent as global reflection research. Fifty-two percent of the dissertations in "Dissertation Abstracts International" were classified as analytic studies, with a focus predominantly on textbook analysis. Research in "Social Education" was reported to be the most analytic of the three sources, with over 57 percent of its research classified as analytic. Again, textbooks were a major focus, with only 6 out of 25 issues not including articles about textbooks. The most favorable percentages of global reflection and other qualitative forms of research appeared in "Theory and Research in Social Education," with 33 percent of its research labeled as global reflection and only 40 percent as analytic science. The second half of the paper calls for a broader perspective for social studies research and identifies a series of themes that may be used to support a more critical research agenda. The themes suggested are: (1) freedom versus control, (2) tradition versus change, (3) ethics versus rationality, and (4) desire versus reality. (IS)