How to connect one set of wire (+ ground wire) to outlet
Are the tabs on the outlet intact? I am thinking the outlet prior may have a broken tab so the feed is not making it to this outlet. Many times only 1/2 of a switched outlet is switched we snap the tab between the top and bottom screw on the hot side take the switch to 1 and always hot to the other. In the case with 2 cables or 2 blacks and 2 whites in the box 1 is the hot the other feeds the next device , if that tab is broken on either side the next outlet will not get both the hot and neutral.