Case study methodology was used to provide an in-depth examination of influences on distance learners' achievement attributions in order to gather data about educational orientation, study approaches, and beliefs about success and failure. The four subjects were drawn from 15 first-year distance learners pursuing degrees at Anadolu University's Open Education Faculty (OEF) in Eskisehir, Turkey. Together, these subjects had characteristics that mirrored the population of first-year OEF students. Data were gathered over an 11-month period through questionnaires and interviews. It was found that the four kinds of attributions usually tested in attribution research (effort, ability, luck, and task difficulty) were not altogether appropriate for Turkish distance learners, who perceived a wide range of learning conditions to be salient factors in their anticipated success and failure. The students attributed their success both to effort and to a variety of positive conditions, whereas they attributed failure primarily to negative conditions in the learning environment. The study demonstrated the complexities of the cross-cultural application of attribution theory in a distance learning context, particularly in a developing country where Islamic influences of patronage and an oral tradition prevail. (57 references) (KC)