The primary purpose of this study was to determine the relative effectiveness of extension work as carried out under two different systems of county assignment -- the individual county system and the multicounty system. The system of personnel assignment was the independent variable; agent job performance was the intervening variable; and program effectiveness was the dependent variable. Program effectiveness was measured with a mailed questionnaire to a two percent random sample of clientele and a two percent selected sample of known cooperators in 18 southern Indiana counties. Agent job performance data were collected by a self-reporting work sampling report. The hypothesis of no significant difference between program effectiveness in multicounty, as compared to individual county, systems was not rejected for the random sample of clientele, but was rejected for the selected sample of clientele on three of the four variables. The hypothesis of no significant difference between area agents' job performance in multicounty systems served by area agents as compared to county agents' job performance in individual county systems not served by area agents, was partially rejected. (Author/LY)