In evaluating formal education as a factor explaining differences in rates of participation in the voluntary associations of a rural southern mountain community, sex and age differences in absolute levels of educational attainment were adjusted for by transforming them to standard scores within homogeneous cohorts. While this procedure produced only moderate changes in the conclusions drawn from a factorial analysis, examination of cases whose classifications were adjusted indicates that it was an appropriate solution to this particular problem. Substantively, both the standardized and unstandardized data indicate that education is always significantly and positively associated with variations in participation rates, whereas the other factors controlled and evaluated (sex, age, work situation) were only moderately associated in limited situations.