Why research — what research should be done?

This article reports on a workshop held in London UK in November 2006 to discuss future research priorities in the visual impairment sector in the UK. The workshop was held under the auspices of the VISION 2020 UK Social Research Group, a collaborative group of charitable partners who commission social research in the sector. The broad purpose of the workshop was to bring people from the field of visual impairment together to discuss why research is needed and, if it is agreed that it is needed, what kind of research should be done. The report presents a summary of the presentations and discussions from that day, including a list of the identified research themes and questions that were generated.