presenting at a conference when you have no results yet

[adel9216]

Hello,

I have already presented my master's thesis results at three conferences (local, provincial and international). I saw a call for papers today for another conference in my hometown, I am thinking of presenting something new that is related to my PhD thesis subject but I haven't collected any data for my PhD thesis so far...I am in social sciences. Is it typical to have students in early stages of their degree present at conferences?

[namazu]

Congratulations on getting your master's thesis work out there.

In my field, it is not uncommon for students early in their doctoral programs to present preliminary results of dissertation research, pilot studies, or side projects at conferences.

Do you anticipate doing data collection between the submission deadline and the date of the conference itself and having some results to present at the conference?  That's quite common.

Presenting before you've done any data collection at all, unless you have a novel study design that would itself be of interest to people, doesn't seem worthwhile to me (and it's not something I've seen done).  What would/could you present?  Are "lit review" presentations a thing in your field?

Perhaps you could attend the conference as a spectator (rather than as a presenter), if you're just looking to learn and to network. 

(Do you need to be a presenter to be eligible for travel funds?  Is that the motivation?)

[ergative]

I think it depends on the lead time to the conference. Sometime the calls go out six months before the conference itself, and if you have a well-designed study, it's not at all unreasonable to lay out your research question and methodology, and then end with something along the lines of 'the results of this study will allow us to understand X, Y and Z.' If the study is well designed, it's okay to send in a promisory abstract. If you can show through your rationale and design that any possible pattern of results is meaningful (null results indicate X, pattern A indicates Y, pattern B indicates Z), and you have enough of a lead time to actually collect and analyze some data, then go for it!

[Kron3007]

My PhD advisor made me do this once and it was horrible.  People come to the talk expecting to take home some information on the topic and instead get a graduate proposal seminar. For conferences in my STEM field preliminary results are fine, but no results would be unusual.

Based on my experience, I would recommend against it unless presenting qualifies you for finding and allows you to attend a conference you otherwise couldn't.

[drbrt]

There are actually a few conferences in my sub field where you can present the design of a study and proposed theoretical perspective for discussion. Our CFPs are so far in advance people generally just put anticipates results in their proposals.

[Conjugate]

We can label our talks as "preliminary report" for conferences put on by the major body in my discipline. Check to see if something similar applies to this conference.

[Vhagar]

The major conference in my field won't accept a study that does not yet have results. I (and others) have sometimes gotten in with something very preliminary. But, only when I'm sure that deeper analyzes won't undermine what I have said in the proposal. I did submit to a small conference without results once. I was accepted. And then the study did not go the way I was expecting and actually didn't end up going much of anywhere (which can happen in the qualitative social sciences). I ended up not going.

[shrek]

I don't allow my students to do this.

[adel9216]

I've been thinking that maybe I could organize a panel within a conference in this case, if I don't have my own results yet.

[Conjugate]

I've been thinking that maybe I could organize a panel within a conference in this case, if I don't have my own results yet.

Organizing a panel needs to be done quite a ways in advance, of course; do you haven enough contacts to be able to get a reasonable panel?

I might also suggest that you deliberately look to get women and people of color on the panel, if you can.

[adel9216]

yes! equitable representation is a top priority for me. I'll discuss that with my thesis supervisor, thanks :)

[Kron3007]

I've been thinking that maybe I could organize a panel within a conference in this case, if I don't have my own results yet.

How this works is very conference dependent.  In my "main" conference, conveners are selected at the previous years conference.  While the love having grad students help, they are usually paired with a more senior person as co-conveners.  It could be worth contacting the program committee to inquire, we would most likely be able to find a fit and it is a great networking opportunity.

[risenanew]

I'm in Psychology and I've been to conferences where I've seen actual professors (tenured and all) do nothing but present the intro, methods, and prospective results of their study.

That said, I've always found those presentations rather disappointing -- more sizzle than steak. So unless the conferences is local and it won't cost you much to go to (or you can get to it without having to shell out any of your own money), I don't know if it's worth presenting your work there.

Then again, if it's a prestigious enough conference, it may be worth presenting something there, if only to have a nice line on your resume. Conference presentations are rarely worth as much as peer-reviewed journal articles (unless you're in certain quirky fields), but I found they still could impress hiring committees at teaching-orientated institutions. (However, R1s are a different story!)