The International Program for Agricultural Knowledge Systems (INTERPAKS) research team is developing a descriptive and analytic framework to examine and assess agricultural technology systems. The first part of the framework is an inductive methodology that organizes data collection and orders data for comparison between countries. It requires and allows for adaptations to the realities of country contexts. The second part of the instrument is the descriptive/explanatory representation of a country's functioning technology development and transfer system, which takes the form of a flow system for each country. The flow system model reflects the actual operation of a country's agricultural technology system and highlights the strengths and weaknesses of individual systems. Both quantitative and qualitative data are collected and compared with norms that are being developed by examining the characteristics of successful systems. The four major functional components of the analytical framework are government agricultural policy, technology development, technology transfer, and technology utilization by farmers. This paper breaks down each major component into its constituent functions and tasks and identifies and describes the key indicators. It includes a directory of members of the INTERPAKS research team and a summary of the project's history and administrative structure. (JHZ)