A multi-jet analysis of hadronic final states from e + e − annihilation in the energy range 27 < E cm < 32GeV is presented. The analysis uses a cluster method to identify the jets in a hadronic event. The distribution of the number of jets per event is compared with several models. From the number of identified coplanar three-jet events the strong coupling constant is determined to beα S = 0.15 ± 0.03 (stat. error) ± 0.02 (syst. error). The inferred energy distribution of the most energetic parton is in good agreement with the first-order QCD prediction. A scalar-gluon model is strongly disfavoured. Higher-twist contributions to the three-jet sample are found to be small.
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