The study was undertaken at the suggestion of the Commission on Religion in Appalachia, a private development agency in Central Appalachia. Given limited resources and the difficulty of obtaining firsthand knowledge of the circumstances in the area, the commission wanted to measure socioeconomic status in the 60 Central Appalachian counties to facilitate recognition of critical need areas. The primary goal of the study was to scale the 60 counties in relation to each other for individual levels of development. To measure developmental status, a composite index was prepared which included 14 socioeconomic indicators. These were chosen on the basis of subjective analysis of the components which affect the social and economic well-being of a geographic area. Only secondary data sources were utilized, with emphasis on the "1970 Census of the Population." The counties were initially scaled for each development indicator. Both observed values and ranked results were reported. The technique of common factor analysis, coupled with oblique rotation, was then employed to detect patterned relationships in the data. Three salient factors were identified: level of development; immobility; and level of industrial activity. A reduced-scale development index utilizing four variables was devised as a working index of developmental change. The report also noted that, in future evaluations of relative changes in status among the 60 counties, the ranking results, rather than factor scores, should be compared. (Author/KM)