"The goal of this study is to investigate, analyze, and elaborate upon the social background, 'influential others,' and personality characteristics of 300 youths, half of whom continued their education at least to graduation from high school and half of whom dropped out of high school." Six general areas of investigation are reported: the nuclear family, the friend-family system, the peer group, school experience, Thematic Apperception Test findings, and existing and proposed solutions for the dropout problem. (NH)