Abstract
The application of various techniques of economic evaluation to early intervention has attracted considerable attention from policy makers, practitioners, and researchers interested in programs that seek to improve the development of infant and young children. Economic evaluation has made some outstanding contributions to our knowledge of early intervention. However, there is also some confusion regarding the goals, limitations, and methods of economic evaluation, resulting in errors in the conduct and interpretation of economic studies. This paper seeks to reduce this confusion by providing an overview of economic evaluation and reviewing three of the best-known examples. It is hoped that researchers will use the information presented here to improve economic evaluations through review and criticism and to design research on early intervention practice and efficacy that will improve the basic data on which economic evaluations rely.