8113.2	Assessment
Research Question (Clear, unambiguous)	"In developing countries, ... Does mother’s education level also cause variance in early childhood mortality rates?"  Okay, this is a straightforward, empirical question (at least on the surface).
Relevant Literature	The one article mentioned is actually irrelevant to the  research question.  What is known about this?  What is the literature?
Causal Interpretations (clear, all parts defined, mechanisms, controls, plausible)	Rather than just stating the hypothesis that more educated women will have fewer infants dying, the causal assessment should tell us why.  What are the mechanisms or reasons for this expected effect.  The idea that religions will make a difference in sub-Saharan Africa because of varied teaching on sanitary conditions seems far fetched.  The other controls mentioned all make sense - perhaps more than education.  You need to think through what the empirical distribution of educational experiences is like in various regions.
Data (variables, sample, comparison)	The DHS data seem appropriate.  This brief project description does not show why the research would focus on the sub-Saharan region.
Research Value	The discussion of the research value does not seem to make much sense.  If changing education patterns is difficult, then we would not do this research to further strategies for reducing infant mortality.  So, what are the other reasons?
Overall	The research topic is reasonable.  However, its value as a contribution depends on what scholarly research has already pursued this topic.  And the research plan needs some careful thought about causality in the real world circumstances of the places being studied.