Persons aged 16 to 75 in 1,803 Mississippi households were interviewed over 6 months in 1990 to develop a profile of the literacy proficiencies of the adult population of the state. Results were reported in three areas of task types: prose literacy, document literacy, and quantitative literacy. Some of the findings were the following: (1) Mississippi has very few total nonreaders among its adult population; (2) older adults who have had less formal education had more severe problems than others; (3) literacy problems extend across racial lines, educational experiences, and income levels, but there are very few non-English-speaking adults in the state; (4) prose literacy was generally better than document literacy, and quantitative literacy was usually strong; (5) members of households that receive public assistance function at considerably lower levels of proficiency than those in households receiving no public assistance; (6) approximately 35 percent of adults are reading below intermediate levels; (7) skilled and unskilled laborers function at lower levels of literacy than those who are professionals, managers, technicians, or in clerical or sales positions; (8) educational attainment, race, and parents' education level are most clearly associated with literacy; and (9) 38 percent of high school graduates and 12 percent of college graduates function below the intermediate level on the prose scale. (An appendix discusses survey methodology. A list of 18 references is provided.) (KC)