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The study's primary purpose was to identify and evaluate the relative importance of factors responsible for the generally low labor force participation rates observable in the Ozark Low-Income Area, and variations in rates within the area itself. The study focused on 108 contiguous, rural-oriented, low-income counties in the states of Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, an area with income growth lagging behind that of the nation. Data for the analysis were taken from censuses and other published data. The authors felt the study's contributions to the general body of labor force participation analyses were to be found in its geographic setting and in its methodology focusing on the family as a decision-making unit regarding labor force participation. A crude model was developed in which the key factors affecting labor force participation were classified as need variables, opportunity variables, and family structure variables. The data were then analyzed using a stepwise multiple regression program which revealed that two variables, precent of personal income from nonwork sources and percent nonwhite account for about 50 percent of the variation in standardized male participation rates. Other findings and specific directions for further research are also discussed. (ET)