ABSTRACT
The field of special education is illustrative of the use of meta-analysis in social research to guide decisions about intervention. Perhaps more so than other areas of sociobehavioral research, special education is a field that lends itself to use of this technique because of its recent history of rather discrete intervention procedures that continue to be used despite conflicting scientific evidence regarding their efficacy (Forness and Kavale 1987, 1989). The present chapter briefly describes the methodology of meta-analysis, including its limitations, along with a summary of meta-analytic findings and their implications for special education research and practice. It will conclude with practical suggestions and considerations for using the technique in the generic area of intervention.
