The purpose of this paper is to indicate priorities for qualitatively-based research in child care. Three main foci for research are indicated. Researchers should examine the multi-faceted cultural and social experiences of the children in programs, investigate the social system in which adults form formal and informal child care arrangements, and study the political and economic influences on all types of child care. The complex ways in which programs work to bring about particular outcomes and how children acquire the culture of centers have not been sufficiently studied. Specific attention should be given to the adjustments children must make in the transition from home to center care. Ethnographic and behavioral approaches can be used to study the child's behavior within the context of the social system of the center. Case studies eliciting the social and political context and atmosphere in which centers operate are needed. Wtihin-program conflicts and resolutions concerning matters such as education, race, value orientations and minority employment, etc., should also receive attention. Anthropologists may effectively assist center participants in conducting in-house research. Appropriately fashioned research and analysis needs to be done so that policy discussions become more clearly based on underlying political and ideological realities. Anthropologists may clarify dimensions of ethical concerns related to disputes over home versus center care. Twelve pages of bibliographic citations are included. (Author/RH)