This study has been sharply focused on rural organization in Hamilton County. Its purpose is (a) to analyze the types of groups in which rural people are organized and the patterns of group relationships through which they participate in local and non-local programs and services, (b) to analyze the ways in which agencies relate themselves and their programs to these types of organizations and patterns of group relationships, and (c) to show pertinent changes in different types of organizations.

The study is one of a series conducted in counties selected to represent the major types of farming areas in the United States. The studies are being conducted cooperatively and through use of a common outline by the Division of Farm Population and Rural Life of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics and various land-grant colleges and universities. Hamilton County was selected to represent Corn Belt counties which do not have a large city in them and which have a high level of corn-hog production.