0556.3	Assessment
Research Question (Clear, unambiguous)	"My research question is whether jobs offered by informal social network, especially through weak social ties is positively associated with higher entry income."  This research question concerns an interesting topic but appears too vague and loosely defined.  People may find jobs through formal or informal means at any point in their work career.  (And, despite some of the literature ignoring it, many job hunts rely on both.)  Since the annual income across occupations varies greatly and the income associated with many occupations varies significantly with the point in job holders' careers (i.e., their age), the implications of job finding strategies only makes sense within much clearer contexts that discussed.
Relevant Literature	The presentation refers to a good range of sources, although it is not clear that these are the crucial ones.
Causal Interpretations (clear, all parts defined, mechanisms, controls, plausible)	The discussion of causality does not get very far, because it does not consider the range of job changes that occur and the mechanisms that might make a difference.  The initial research question requires a great deal of specification to make it meaningful.  Even after that, we need to recognize that under any conditions, the choice between formal and formal job finding strategies is not random, so we also have to control for the possible causes of that choice.
Data (variables, sample, comparison)	The GSS seems to have gathered the variables being referred to only once, in 1991, so the value of this data is questionable.
Research Value	Gaining greater clarity about the implications of "weak ties" would certainly be valuable, but the present research description shows little promise of doing that.
Overall	The project has an interesting goal, but it does not seem well conceived either theoretically or empirically.