The sixth annual survey conducted by the Rural Services Institute examined the opinions of Pennsylvania residents on crime control, welfare reform, smoking, and education reform proposals. Sixty percent of respondents believed that the most urgent issue facing Pennsylvania was violent crime and strongly supported measures to reduce the irresponsible use of guns, especially by minors. The majority of respondents supported welfare reform, but lacked a clear consensus about what actions would improve the welfare system. The majority of respondents believed that doctors should help terminally ill patients to commit suicide, were willing to pay higher taxes or higher insurance premiums to provide health care for uninsured residents, and favored a law that would require employers to provide health insurance for their employees. Additionally, the majority of respondents favored measures to reduce youth access to cigarettes. Respondents had mixed views on educational change issues, including providing condoms for high school students, allowing public school choice outside of resident district, and increasing the number of school days. Residents also responded to questions concerning property taxes, tax amnesty, and state income tax deductions for child care expenses. Responses to survey questions are broken down by rural/urban and regional residence, age, sex, marital status, parenthood status, educational level, political affiliation, and religious preference. Appendices include a map of rural and urban counties in Pennsylvania and a description of the survey sample. Contains maps and figures. (LP)