In terms of its attention to research utilization, vocational rehabilitation today may be where agriculture was in 1913. One reason for this is an inadequate understanding of the process of research utilization. Scattered studies of research utilization have occurred, but suffer from a lack of integration. Among propositions that may be postulated to attempt such an integration are these: (1) communication between the research system and client system is facilitated by a linking system; (2) communication of research results and/or client needs between a research system and a linking system is facilitated by the degree of homophily between researchers and linkers; and (3) the linking system depends upon homophily between researchers and linkers and between linkers and clients and the use of opinion leaders to bridge the heterophily gap. Research utilization may be improved by increasing the technical competence of clients, by attention to client feedback, by training organization managers to manage change, and by orientation of research to needs of practitioners. Further research is needed to determine the ideal structure for research utilization in vocational rehabilitation. Consolidation of vocational rehabilitation researchers in a small number of mission-oriented centers might be advisable. (MF)