Objectives of this educational research conducted in 1969-70 to determine if two categories of variables, socioeconomic level and location (rural, suburban, or urban), affect 6th and 7th grade students in their: 1) acquired economic knowledge; and 2) ability to gain knowledge from an economic program. Classes and teachers were randomly selected from communities of differing sizes to participate in the field tests. Teachers were supplied with materials for the "Economic Man", program and were asked to administer to their students the Otis-Lennon Mental Ability Test, to yield a dependable measure of general intelligence, and pre-/post-IRC tests, to measure economic knowledge and application. Methods of investigation created two additional variables, grade level, and order of testing. Based upon differences between observed and predicted scores, findings indicate that location and socio-economic status were not significant variables affecting acquired economic understanding and that grade and order of testing were significant. Results show that, for ability to gain knowledge from a classroom economics program, location was significant, rural students scoring higher than urban or suburban students, and that grade level was also significant.(SJM)