Reported is an investigation done to obtain descriptive answers to such questions as: What variables influence high school students' willingness to become personally involved with scientific activities? What variables influence these students' perception of the scientist? The study is described and includes an extensive review of the literature related to the topic. Potential predictor variables included those related to curriculum and instruction and those related to personal characteristics of the student. Instrumentation included a machine scorable instrument of Likert scales, two dimensions of academic self-concept, and over 40 other variables. Science educators in various parts of the country selected schools in their areas to maximize heterogeneity of cultural, socioeconomic and educational variables. Usable data were collected from 373 students. Results were analyzed by stepwise-deletion multiple regression. The alpha level accepted was set at 0.05. Approximately 31.8 percent of the variance of the attitudinal scores could be predicted from knowledge of: students' sex, their enrollment intentions with regard to advanced chemistry, whether or not they liked the physics teacher as a teacher, various test scores, and availability of the Science Course Improvement Project curricula. (Author/EB)