Mental retardation policy and research: the unfulfilled promise.

Although research on problems relating to mental retardation has received considerable public support over the past two decades, the impact on policy has not been particularly marked. Some of the reasons for this failure of research to influence the course of policy formulation were discussed. The nature of the process itself is such that research is secondary to economic, political, and social considerations. Furthermore, the research enterprise is fragmented and uncoordinated and is not oriented toward the needs of policy makers. Some suggestions were offered to improve the link between research and public policy in the field of mental retardation.