Among many findings, the first Arab Social Sciences Monitor (ASSM) report identified a difference between what it called “raw” versus “refined” science. Both were useful for various purposes, although we tend to highly value what we identify as “refined” science. Much that is produced by Arab social scientists may be regarded as “raw,” in the sense that while the research may find new data or facts, it fails to review relevant literature or situate arguments in relation to larger bodies of literature; remain theoretically under-developed; or does not clarify its own methods and their limitations. This presentation aims to offer some preliminary suggestions about the likely reasons for this disjuncture; identify the various uses and abuses which each style of science is capable of; and offer some suggestions about how to evaluate them.
