7024.2	Assessment
Research Question (Clear, unambiguous)	"Is there a correlation between certain status characteristics (i.e. race, gender, socioeconomic status) and subscription to conspiracy theories?"  Well, to the degree that conspiracy theories are related to political issues that divide status groups, we would anticipate people in those status groups would respond differentially to conspiracy theories depending how they perceive those theories aligning to their interests and world understandings.  It is not apparent why we would expect differential sensitivity to conspiracy theories regardless of their content.
Relevant Literature	Presumably the wide range of work on political affiliation and diffusion of ideas as well as status group ideology could be relevant.
Causal Interpretations (clear, all parts defined, mechanisms, controls, plausible)	The logic behind the first causal statement is unclear.  One might reasonably argue that greater education could "protect" people from conspiracy theories (although some conspiracies are real), but it is not apparent why other status group distinctions would cause members of one group to be more or less open to conspiracy theories than those in other groups.
Data (variables, sample, comparison)	Well, data would be necessary to have a research project.
Research Value	Any good evidence about what makes people vulnerable to conspiracy theories would be worthwhile, assuming it does not duplicate already existing research.
Overall	Interesting topic, but no apparent research plan.