Many of the problems faced by rural youth in the North Central states result from growing up in a rapidly changing environment. Their characteristics may differ widely from those of urban youth. Such differences have implications for the kind of Neighborhood Youth Corps (NYC) programs that would be most beneficial to them. Phase 1 consists of the formulation of a number of hypotheses, mainly aimed at finding out whether systematic relationships exist between identifiable deficiencies in the rural community and the occupational and social adjustment of youth who grow up in that community. Phase 2 will test these hypotheses. Twelve representative counties were selected for study. (MS)