An experimental version of the one semester high school sociology course, "Inquiry in Sociology," was taught by 222 teachers throughout the United States in the spring of 1969. The purpose of this field test was to learn something about its relative success in rural, small-town, suburban, and central city schools, and with students of various socio-economic backgrounds, abilities, and aspirations. The techniques used were: 1) visits by staff members who observed classes in session and interviewed both teachers and students, 2) multiple-choice tests, and 3) an essay test. Students expressed a generally high level of interest in the course, with the high points at the beginning and the end. Despite the fluctuations in interest, the objective tests indicated a uniformly high performance and a low correlation of less than .12 between interest and performance, and a consistently high correlation between ability and performance. Critical thinking skills in analyzing social problem situations from a sociological perspective were measured by the essay test. The students appeared to have a good grasp of substantive ideas and concepts, but a considerably less adequate grasp of sociological methods. Certain substantive weaknesses and the effect or teacher style are also mentioned. SO 000 241 is a related document. (SBE)