Guidelines for Preparing a Research Proposal

For MS/PhD Students of Islamic Banking and Finance

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Dr. Muhammad Abubakar Siddique

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Before starting a research proposal, students should proceed in a systematic and focused manner. A strong research proposal does not begin with a title only; rather, it begins with the careful selection of area, narrowing of scope, review of literature, and identification of a research gap.

1. First, determine the broad area of research

At the first stage, students should identify the general area or sector in which they want to conduct research. For example:

• Banking sector
  • Islamic banks
  • Conventional banks
  • Comparative study between Islamic and conventional banks
• Non-banking financial sector (NBFIs)
  • Takaful
  • Modaraba companies
  • Leasing companies
  • Microfinance institutions
  • Firms/corporate sector
  • Capital markets

This step is important because it helps the student decide the larger domain of study.

2. Narrow down the selected area

After selecting a broad area, the student should gradually narrow it down.

For example, if the student selects the banking sector, the next step is to decide:

• whether the study will focus only on Islamic banking,
• whether it will be a comparative study between Islamic and conventional banks,
• or whether it will focus on a specific dimension such as:
  • profitability,
  • efficiency,
  • financial stability,
  • governance,
  • Shariah compliance,
  • customer perception,
  • digital banking,
  • risk management, etc.

A broad topic is difficult to handle. Therefore, narrowing the area is essential for producing a feasible and meaningful proposal.

3. Decide the nature of the research

Once the area is narrowed down, the student should decide the nature and direction of the study. Broadly, the research may be of the following types:

• Juristic / Fiqhi research
  • discussion of Shariah rulings,
  • analysis of classical and contemporary juristic opinions,
  • examination of Shariah issues in Islamic financial contracts and products.
• Empirical research
  • Primary data-based research
    • questionnaires,
    • surveys,
    • interviews,
    • case studies.
  • Secondary data-based research
    • annual reports,
    • financial statements,
    • databases,
    • published institutional reports,
    • panel data or time-series data.

At this stage, students must clearly decide whether they are interested in:

• Fiqhi / conceptual research, or
• data-based empirical research.

4. Download and study at least 10 quality research papers

Before finalizing the topic, each student should download and carefully read at least 10 research papers published in well-reputed and impact-factor journals.

Students may use sources such as:

• Emerald
• JSTOR
• Brill
• Springer
• Scopus-indexed journals
• Web of Science journals
• ScienceDirect
• Wiley
• Taylor & Francis

These papers should not be collected merely for citation purposes. Rather, they should be studied carefully to understand the structure, style, and logic of academic research writing.

5. While reading those papers, focus on how the author builds the research   (Most Important)

While reviewing the 10 research papers, students must carefully observe how a research article is constructed from beginning to end. In particular, they should focus on the following aspects:

• How the author introduces the topic
  • How does the author open the study?
  • How is the issue made important and relevant?
• How the author builds the case
  • How does the author explain the background of the problem?
  • How does the author justify the need for the study?
• How the research objectives are developed
  • How are the objectives written?
  • Are they clear, specific, and linked with the problem?
• How the literature review is organized
  • How are previous studies discussed?
  • How does the author connect earlier findings with the present study?
  • How is the research gap identified?
• How the methodology section is written
  • How does the author explain research design, data sources, sample, variables, and methods?
  • How clearly does the author justify the selected method?
• How the empirical model is developed
  • How are dependent, independent, moderating, or control variables introduced?
  • How is the model specified and explained?
• How the results are presented
  • How are tables interpreted?
  • How are findings discussed?
  • How does the author connect results with objectives and previous literature?
• How the conclusion is written
  • How are the main findings summarized?
  • How are implications and recommendations presented?

This exercise is extremely beneficial because it trains the student not only to read research, but also to learn the art of writing research.

6. Identify the research gap

After reading the literature, the student should identify a clear and genuine research gap.

A gap may be found in different forms, for example:

• the topic has been studied internationally but not in Pakistan,
• the issue has been examined in conventional finance but not in Islamic finance,
• juristic discussion exists, but empirical evidence is lacking,
• previous studies used old data and recent evidence is missing,
• Islamic banks have been studied, but takaful or other NBFIs remain underexplored.

The proposal must clearly demonstrate that the study addresses a meaningful gap rather than repeating existing work.

7. Formulate a focused research title

Only after completing the above steps should the student develop a research title. A good title should be:

• clear,
• focused,
• academically sound,
• feasible,
• and aligned with the literature and available data.

Example 1: Empirical comparative study

• Broad area: Banking sector
• Narrow area: Islamic and conventional banks
• Nature of study: Empirical
• Focus: financial stability
• Possible title: “Comparative Analysis of Financial Stability in Islamic and Conventional Banks in Pakistan”

Example 2: Fiqhi / juristic study

• Broad area: Islamic banking
• Narrow area: Shariah issues in Islamic financial products
• Nature of study: Juristic
• Possible title: “A Juristic Analysis of Tawarruq-Based Financing in Contemporary Islamic Banking”

Example 3: NBFI-focused study

• Broad area: Non-banking financial institutions
• Narrow area: Takaful
• Nature of study: Empirical
• Possible title: “Determinants of Customer Adoption of Family Takaful in Pakistan”

Important advice for students

Students should not select a topic merely because it sounds attractive. A research topic should be chosen on the basis of:

• academic relevance,
• clarity of scope,
• availability of literature,
• availability of data,
• feasibility of research,
• and the presence of a research gap.

A weak proposal starts with a vague title. A strong proposal starts with careful reading, focused thinking, and systematic planning.