TWO RESEARCH FRAMEWORKS, SOCIAL ACTION AND GROUP FORMATION AND MAINTENANCE, WERE CHOSEN TO ANALYZE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY EXTENSION WORKERS. IN A STUDY ON THE INTRODUCTION OF PROGRAM PLANNING INTO A COUNTY, THE FULFILLMENT OF EACH OF 34 STEPS IN THE SOCIAL ACTION PROCESS WAS ANALYZED AND FOUND TO BE ONLY SOMEWHAT ADEQUATE. WHEN SPECIFIC ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL SYSTEMS WERE EXAMINED, THE ABILITY TO INTEGRATE DETAILS OF A DISCUSSION INTO A MEANINGFUL WHOLE CORRELATED DIRECTLY WITH JOB SATISFACTION. AN ASSESSMENT OF PROGRAM PLANNING REVEALED THAT 75 PERCENT OF THE CONDITIONS MET OR NEARLY MET WERE DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY RELATED TO SOCIAL ACTION. FINALLY, A DETAILED ANALYSIS, BY PERFORMANCE, INTELLIGENCE, AND PERSONALITY VARIABLES, OF AN EIGHT MEMBER NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE SHOWED THAT DOMINANCE, RECEPTIVITY TO CHANGE, ACTIVE AND RELEVANT PARTICIPATION IN DISCUSSIONS, AND PERFORMANCE WERE ALL CLOSELY INTERRELATED, AND WERE MOST CHARACTERISTIC OF THE THREE RESOURCE PERSONS ON THE SUBCOMMITTEE. (THE DOCUMENT INCLUDES CHARTS AND DIAGRAMS, FIVE APPENDIXES, REFERENCES, AND THE THEORETICAL METHODS AND ORIENTATION OF THE OVERALL STUDY. IT IS AVAILABLE FROM THE IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS, AMES.) 520 PAGES. (LY)