The Effects of Vocational Education study was conducted to organize and synthesize all studies conducted between 1968 and 1979 that dealt with the effects of participating in vocational education. Its framework was developed primarily from the various goals for vocational education specified in the federal legislation and on previous research. Three major categories of dependent variables were selected to organize and summarize study findings: employment/unemployment variables, educational effects of vocational education training, and ancillary effects variables. All studies identified underwent a three-stage screening process: scanning of title and document abstracts, determining relevancy of data in actual document, and categorizing studies according to scope, level, and minimum methodological criteria. The approximately 232 reports selected were abstracted, summarized, and classified as more rigorous, less rigorous, and national studies. Certain persistent methodological problems were found in the studies included in the meta-evaluation regarding self-selection bias, definition of program, identification of students, reliability and validity of outcome measures, and contextual factors. Limitations were also found in the methodology of the meta-evaluation, including inadequate conceptual framework, incomplete search process, no critical assessment of studies, and conclusions not based on synthesis of adequate data. (Two tables are attached.) (YLB)