This research was designed to serve two major purposes: (1) to create a substantial library of theoretically neutral observational data as permanent documentation of actual life experiences in the lives of 3-year-old children from different socioeconomic backgrounds and (2) to analyze specimen records in order (a) to describe and quantify the kinds of active environmental inputs received by the children, (b) to assess relationships between home experiences and socioeconomic status, (3) to explore the characteristics of the social environment of children in disadvantaged homes, and (d) to relate findings to certain data in the research literature on child-rearing. Narrative descriptions of behavior of 8 low-income urban, 8 low-income rural and 8 middle-income urban children provide the basic observational data recorded as Environmental Force Units (units of behavior of agents acting with respect to the child). Child behavior is then coded and described according to a set of 26 variables. Similarities and differences across groups on some dimensions of the variables are presented. Results of this analysis feature wide individual differences, some important similarities across the three socioeconomic groups, and some interesting intergroup differences in orientation to child-rearing. (NH)