1845	Assessment
Abstract	No abstract present.
Research Question	The research question seems fairly clear and reasonable in the introductory section, with a focus on poor whites.  However, some parts of the draft seem to imply a different research interest, with a focus on blacks, seemingly reflecting a change in focus.  This should be made consistent.
Literature Review	Overall, the review of the selected literature is pretty good.   It could still benefit from organizing more in terms of the ideas rather than the authors.  And, given the topic, the literature review should have a bit more depth and breadth, which will come easier if it is organized more around competing ideas and findings. The literature review is mostly focused on research surrounding the black-white wealth gap, yet it is the gap between poor whites and other groups that is highlighted in the introduction and research question.  This should be consistent. Additionally, the proposal might consider some research on the consequences of wealth inequality, such as how wealth differences may impact individuals’ abilities to pay for college, retire, etc. Right now, the proposal assumes that the wealth gap is sociologically important (which is true) but does not talk much about why it’s important.  Of course, it is obvious why being rich is better than being poor, but perhaps not so obvious why the more limited differences between groups lower in affluence matter over time. The research might benefit by avoiding, or at least facing head on, a conceptual issue that appears in much research in this area, that is neglecting fundamental differences between wealth invested in homes (and vehicles in a bit different way) and "financial" wealth.  Wealth invested in a home influences one's standard of living, and we derive benefit or "value" from it independently of changes in its market price.  The market value of a home commonly becomes translated permanently into financial instruments only when the owners no longer need or want to own a home, presumably most often due to death or the deteriorating years leading to death, secondarily due to hardship or other circumstances inducing a move toward rental property.   The proposal need not go much beyond recognition of the issue at the proposal stage, but it could be a good idea to prepare for taking the issue into account as the research evolves. As the phenomena being studied varies significantly over time, the proposal should be careful about which research findings match which periods.  It does not work, for example, if we jump from citing a finding in 2010 to one in 1970 as if time were irrelevant.  Similarly, if assessing a contemporary conditions, it is problematic to rely on findings about how things worked a few decades prior; in such a case, find more recent research or state why the old findings remain relevant.  Some details: In varied sentences the text now makes authors the subjects; try to make the findings or arguments the subjects and mention the authors in citations or secondary clauses (e.g. "X often leads to Y, as shown by Z").  If the only, or primary, role of education is to influence earning capacity, then it should be discussed in the context of income, not later.  The presentation flow should complement the logical relations between the things being presented.
Data	The PSID offer good, but rather complex data.  Although the problems being raised can be studied effectively with longitudinal data, it is not clear that the research design involves using the strengths of panel data.  If the stress is to be on the comparison of group characteristics, comparing cross-sectional results across time could be an alternative strategy.  The proposal might benefit from consulting the paper Measuring Wealth and Wealth Inequality: Comparing Two U.S. Surveys (https://psidonline.isr.umich.edu/publications/Papers/tsp/2014-03_%20Measuring_Wealth_and_Wealth_Inequality.pdf). Since the proposal hypothesizes that geography plays a significant role in wealth redistribution, the research design might make use of a multilevel model with households clustered within states (or counties in the restricted dataset) to account better for clustered error terms.  This is a statistical issue beyond our immediate concerns, so this is just a note for to think about in the future.
Causal Interpretations	While the proposal characterizes the study as descriptive, it appears rather causal.  Why does the proposal appear to avoid causality?  Why does the number of interactions (p. 7)  prevent it from making causal claims? By itself, varying access to real estate by its value appears insufficient to explain variations in wealth accumulation.  Rather we would expect it must be varying access to real estate by value appreciation potential (note that the price of initially lower valued real estate may rise faster) or the relative appreciation potential of alternative investments (consider renters as a basis for examining this).
Research Value	While the research value is fairly self-evident, the discussion of its value could be a bit clearer.  Try to return to the earlier mention of limitations to past research, and suggest how this research will respond to that.  The direct advocacy for the proposed research does not need to list the expected findings (although it can if it helps make the argument).
Timetable	The timetable is fine, but note that the discussion of project stages seems to imply an earlier completion than the initial overall required time estimate.
Citations & Biblio	Okay, but note that when using a full bibliography with footnote citations, even the first footnote citation of a publication often uses simplified (rather than complete) publication data.
Quality of writing	The proposal could use editing for minor grammatical and syntactic errors.  Also, some minor logical flaws are jarring (e.g. on p. 2, the initial phrases of the last 2 sentences of the first paragraph are inconsistent; on p. 3, 4th paragraph, last sentence, the final clause does not fit the earlier ones).
Priorities for Revising for Final Draft	This seems a solid first draft.  All parts could use some significant investment of time to improve the consistency, internal logic, and clarity of presentation, but the foundation is there to build on.
Miscellaneous Notes	Sometimes when you say "determine", consider using "influence" or the like ("determine" suggests a cause is sufficient and possibly necessary, which you usually do not intend).