A 1975 DISSERTATION SHOWED CRIME TO BE A PRODUCT OF MULTIPLE FACTORS: INCOME, DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE, UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, AND FAMILY INSTABILITY. ALTHOUGH NO ONE ECOLOGICAL FACTOR WAS OBSERVED TO BE CORRELATED HIGHLY WITH THE CRIME RATE, THE AGGREGATE OF FACTORS IS CONSIDERED LIKELY TO PRODUCE AN ENVIRONMENT CONDUCIVE TO CRIMINAL ACTIVITY. HYPOTHESES TESTED INCLUDED EXPECTATIONS OF POSITIVE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN THE PRESENCE OF YOUNG MALES IN THE COMMUNITY AND THE CRIME RATE AND UNEMPLOYMENT/POVERTY IN THE COMMUNITY AND THE CRIME RATE. THE STUDY OF NINE TOWNSHIPS IN RURAL OHIO SHOWED THAT CRIME RATES WERE NOT RANDOM BUT WERE CORRELATED WITH SEVERAL COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS. THE EMPIRICAL RESULTS SHOWED LARCENY-THEFT TO BE THE MOST WIDESPREAD CRIME COMMITTED IN THE COMMUNITIES, FOLLOWED BY VANDALISM AND BURGLARY. SIX OF SIXTEEN VARIABLES ACCOUNTED FOR VARIATIONS IN THE CRIME RATE. POSITIVE CORRELATIONS WERE FOUND BETWEEN THE CRIME RATE AND THE EXTENT OF MARITAL INSTABILITY, THE CRIME PREVENTION EFFORTS, AND THE COMMUNITY SATISFACTION LEVEL. NEGATIVE CORRELATIONS WERE FOUND BETWEEN THE CRIME RATE AND THE DEGREE OF POPULATION CHANGE AND THE LEVELS OF EDUCATION AND POVERTY. ALTHOUGH A NEGATIVE CORRELATION WAS FOUND BETWEEN THE CRIME RATE AND THE PRESENCE OF YOUNG MALES, THE DEGREE OF CORRELATION WAS CONSIDERED INSIGNIFICANT. EXPLANATIONS FOR THE CONCLUSIONS ARE PROVIDED, AND IT IS SPECULATED THAT THE CRIME RATE WOULD BE MORE PREDICTABLE IF ADDITIONAL VARIABLES WERE EXAMINED. THE DOCUMENT PROVIDES THE QUESTIONNAIRE USED TO COLLECT COMMUNITY DATA, TABLES ILLUSTRATING THE DATA, DEFINITIONS OF CRIMES SURVEYED AND VARIABLES EXAMINED, A LIST OF OFFENSES BASED ON SHERIFFS' REPORTS, AND A MAP OF THE STUDIED AREA.