Utilizing data derived from a stratified random sample of disadvantaged farm families (DFF) living in 3 northeastern North Carolina counties (N=42, 56, and 32 families from Bertie, Halifax, and Northampton respectively), study objectives were to test the homogeneity thesis of the culture of poverty theory via a comparison of a selected set of characteristics. The 14 characteristics usually associated with the poor and used for purposes of DFF comparisons were: age; education; participation in social organizations; anomia; present/future orientation; registered to vote; voting participation; knowledge of elected representatives; ethnic background (84% of these families were black); health index; occupational mobility; residential mobility; family size; and type of family. Results indicated the DFF differed dramatically from the generalized conception of the poor in regard to voter registration, participation in voting, and residential and occupational mobility, while smaller discrepancies occurred in present value orientation, family size, and family type. It was concluded that voter registration and participation discrepancies were probably due to the recent civil rights movement, while occupational/residential mobility discrepancies were probably due to the traditional character of the DFF, a phenomenon providing justification for conceptualizing the poor along a rural-urban dichotomy. (JC)