HLT-362V Article Analysis 2: Guide + 2-Article Worked Example

Updated on: Sep 14, 2026

If you completed HLT 362 Article Analysis 1 already, you might assume Article Analysis 2 is the same template with new articles dropped in. It isn’t quite. GCU’s “Article Analysis: Part 2” template drops the Descriptive Statistics and Inferential Statistics rows from Article Analysis 1 and replaces them with two different fields: Define Hypotheses and How Were Data Collected? The article count also changes, from three articles down to two. Same course, same general skill, genuinely different template, and mixing the two up is the fastest way to lose points on an assignment that’s otherwise just careful reading.

This guide walks through the actual Article Analysis 2 template field by field, shows a complete worked example using two current, verified, peer-reviewed nursing studies, and points out exactly where this assignment differs from the one you already did. HLT-362V Applied Statistics for Health Care Professionals at GCU builds its statistics instruction around evaluating real published research, and Article Analysis 2 is the second of the checkpoints where that shows up as a graded deliverable.

Assignment requirements can vary by current course shell and instructor. Always confirm against your own syllabus and rubric in the GCU classroom before submitting; this guide reflects the standard version of the Article Analysis 2 assignment and template as issued in HLT-362V.

Article Analysis 2 Assignment Prompt

Search the GCU Library and find two new health care articles that use quantitative research. Do not use articles from a previous assignment, or articles that appear in the topic Resources or textbook.

Complete an article analysis for each using the “Article Analysis: Part 2” template.

Refer to the “Patient Preference and Satisfaction in Hospital-at-Home and Usual Hospital Care for COPD Exacerbations: Results of a Randomised Controlled Trial,” in conjunction with the “Article Analysis Example 2,” for an example of an article analysis.

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.

HLT-362V Article Analysis 2 at a Glance

If you’re fitting this between shifts, the field that eats the most time isn’t finding two new articles, it’s writing a defensible hypothesis for a study that never states one outright. Most nursing research reports a research question, not a formal null/alternative hypothesis pair. The section below on defining hypotheses shows you how to construct one correctly from a study that doesn’t hand it to you.

For the full assignment sequence in HLT-362V GCU, see the HLT-362V Applied Statistics for Health Care guide. If you haven’t done the first analysis yet, start with the HLT 362 Article Analysis 1 guide, which covers the three-article version of this template.

Need a second set of eyes on your two articles or your hypotheses before you submit? Message Gradevia on WhatsApp at +1 564-544-6924 for a quick scope review.

What Is the HLT-362V Article Analysis 2 Assignment, Exactly?

You’re asked to search the GCU Library and find two different health care articles that use quantitative research, then complete an “Article Analysis: Part 2” template entry for each one. Two categories of articles are off-limits: anything you already used for Article Analysis 1, and anything pulled from your Topic Resources or textbook. The point of the assignment is demonstrating you can locate and evaluate new research independently, a second time, with a slightly different analytical lens than the first analysis used.

GCU pairs this assignment with the same reference example used in Article Analysis 1: Patient Preference and Satisfaction in Hospital-at-Home and Usual Hospital Care for COPD Exacerbations: Results of a Randomised Controlled Trial (Utens et al., 2013), broken down in GCU’s own “Article Analysis Example 2” document in your course materials. That example is worth opening before you start, specifically to see how GCU wants the “Define Hypotheses” and “How Were Data Collected?” fields answered, since those are the two rows that don’t appear anywhere in the Article Analysis 1 template.

APA formatting isn’t required for the body of the template. It is required for your citation and permalink: correct APA 7 formatting, plus a working link for each article. You’ll submit through LopesWrite, GCU’s originality-checking tool, so every field needs to be written in your own words.

The Article Analysis 2 Template, Field by Field

Eight rows, one column per article, two articles total.

1. Article Citation and Permalink (APA format)

A complete APA 7 reference plus a working link. Use the database’s permalink rather than your browser’s address bar URL if you accessed the article through the GCU Library.

2. Broad Topic Area/Title

A plain-language, one-line description of what the study investigates. Write it yourself; don’t paste the literal article title.

3. Define Hypotheses

This is the field unique to Article Analysis 2 that trips students up most, because most published nursing research states a research question or aim rather than a textbook-style null and alternative hypothesis. Your job is to construct a defensible hypothesis from what the study actually tested. See the dedicated section below for exactly how to do this.

4. Define Independent and Dependent Variables and Types of Data for Variables

Same expectation as Article Analysis 1: name the IV(s) and DV(s), and state whether each produces categorical (nominal/ordinal) or continuous (interval/ratio) data. A variable name alone, without a stated data type, is an incomplete answer.

5. Population of Interest for the Study

The broader group the findings are meant to generalize to, not the specific people measured.

6. Sample

The actual group the researchers collected data from, with the number and any defining characteristics stated in the methods.

7. Sampling Method

How participants were selected: convenience, random, stratified, or a total-population/census approach where every eligible person in a defined setting was included. The methods section states this directly, usually early in “Materials and Methods.”

8. How Were Data Collected?

Different from anything in the Article Analysis 1 template. This field asks specifically for the mechanism of data collection: was it a self-administered questionnaire, a validated scale, direct observation, chart review, or a combination of instruments? Name the actual tool(s) used, not just “a survey was given.”

How to Define a Hypothesis When the Article Doesn’t State One

Most quantitative nursing studies report a purpose or research aim in their introduction, not a formally labeled null hypothesis (H0) and alternative hypothesis (Ha). That’s normal, and it’s exactly why this field is worth walking through carefully rather than guessing.

Work backward from what the study actually tested:

1. Find the variables first. Identify the independent and dependent variables (you’ll need these for row 4 anyway).
2. Find the relationship the researchers tested. Look at the statistical tests reported in Results. If they ran a chi-square, correlation, regression, or group comparison, they were testing whether a relationship exists between specific variables.
3. Write the null hypothesis as “no relationship.” H0: There is no significant relationship between [independent variable] and [dependent variable].
4. Write the alternative hypothesis as “a relationship exists.” Ha: There is a significant relationship between [independent variable] and [dependent variable].
5. Match the direction to what was actually found, if the study reports one. If nurses on night shift showed significantly more medication errors than nurses on day shift, your alternative hypothesis can state that directional relationship rather than a vague “a relationship exists.”

If the abstract never uses the word “hypothesis,” that doesn’t mean you skip the field: it means you’re constructing the hypothesis the study’s own statistical tests imply, which is a legitimate and expected part of the assignment.

Stuck constructing a hypothesis for your specific article? Send Gradevia a message on WhatsApp with the article attached and we’ll help you work through it: +1 564-544-6924.

How Do You Choose Two Articles That Are Genuinely Different From Article Analysis 1?

You don’t need a different topic from Article Analysis 1, but you do need entirely different articles, and picking a fresh angle usually makes the assignment easier to write, not harder.

• Search a related but distinct topic. If Article Analysis 1 was about nurse burnout, medication safety, patient falls, or hand hygiene compliance are all natural next steps that keep you in familiar research territory without reusing anything.
• Filter for “Peer Reviewed” and a recent date range before you read a single abstract; this removes most of the noise up front.
• Check the abstract for a stated sample size and a named statistical test. No sample size and no named test almost always means qualitative research, which doesn’t qualify.
• Cross-check against both your Topic Resources list and your own Article Analysis 1 submission before committing. This is the step that’s easy to skip under time pressure and the one most likely to get flagged.
• Pull both articles before filling in a single template cell. Do all your searching first, then all your reading and writing, rather than switching back and forth.

HLT-362V Article Analysis 2 Worked Example (2 Articles)

For reference use only. This worked example uses two real, current, peer-reviewed quantitative studies on medication administration errors to demonstrate how the actual Article Analysis 2 template gets filled in, including the Define Hypotheses and How Were Data Collected fields that don’t appear in Article Analysis 1. It is not a substitute for analyzing your own two articles, and it is not one of GCU’s official Topic Resources. GCU’s own “Article Analysis Example 2,” built around the Utens et al. (2013) COPD study, is provided separately in your course materials and is worth reviewing alongside this one.

How Article Analysis 2 Builds on HLT 362 Article Analysis 1

The two assignments share a skill, not a template. Article Analysis 1 asks you to identify descriptive and inferential statistics directly; Article Analysis 2 asks you to work one layer further back, reconstructing the hypothesis those statistics were actually testing. If you understood how to separate a mean or standard deviation (descriptive) from a p-value or correlation coefficient (inferential) in Article Analysis 1, you already have what you need to write a defensible hypothesis here: the hypothesis is simply the relationship that inferential statistic was checking.

This also connects to earlier course material. The HLT-362V Population and Sampling Distribution worksheet is where you first work with how sample size and sampling method affect how confidently results generalize, which is exactly the judgment call behind the Population and Sampling Method rows here. The HLT-362V Summary and Descriptive Statistics benchmark is where you first calculate means and standard deviations by hand, which is why spotting them inside a published article’s results section (as in Article 1 of the worked example above) should feel familiar rather than new.

If your course also has you complete HLT 362V Quiz 1 or other early knowledge checks, those typically test the same foundational vocabulary (variables, data types, sampling, hypotheses) that this template asks you to apply directly to real research. The quiz and the article analysis aren’t the same format and don’t overlap in submission requirements, but doing well on the vocabulary in early quizzes tends to make the Article Analysis template faster to complete, since you’re not stopping to look up what “ordinal data” means while you’re also trying to read a results section under a deadline.

Common Mistakes That Cost Points on Article Analysis 2

• Reusing an article from Article Analysis 1. Both articles need to be new.
• Leaving “Define Hypotheses” blank because the study didn’t state one. Construct it from the variables and statistical tests instead; a blank field reads as an incomplete answer, not a correct one.
• Copying the Article Analysis 1 template format by mistake, including Descriptive/Inferential Statistics rows that don’t exist in this version. Check your template’s actual field names before you start.
• Answering “How Were Data Collected?” with a one-word answer like “survey.” Name the actual instrument(s): a validated scale, a structured questionnaire, direct observation, chart review.
• Reversing population and sample. If both answers describe the exact same group with the exact same number, revisit the methods section.
• Missing or broken permalinks, or a citation that doesn’t match APA 7 formatting.
• Forgetting the LopesWrite submission step, which flags the assignment as incomplete even when the template itself is finished.

Short on time before this one’s due? Message Gradevia on WhatsApp at +1 564-544-6924. We’ll review your two articles and your hypotheses against the actual GCU format before you submit.

HLT-362V Article Analysis 2 FAQ

Can I use the same articles from Article Analysis 1? No. Article Analysis 2 requires two new quantitative articles that weren’t used in Article Analysis 1 and aren’t listed in your Topic Resources or textbook.

Is the Article Analysis 2 template the same as Article Analysis 1? No, and this is the detail most students miss. Article Analysis 1 includes Descriptive Statistics and Inferential Statistics rows across three articles. Article Analysis 2 uses two articles and swaps those rows for Define Hypotheses and How Were Data Collected.

What if my article doesn’t state a hypothesis anywhere? Most won’t state one explicitly. Build it from the variables and the statistical test the researchers actually ran, as shown in the “How to Define a Hypothesis” section above.

Do both articles need to be on the same topic? They don’t have to be, but choosing a related theme, such as a different angle on patient safety, usually makes the analysis faster to write and easier for a grader to follow.

How does Article Analysis 2 relate to HLT 362V Quiz 1 or other early coursework? They’re separate deliverables with separate formats; quizzes test foundational vocabulary, while Article Analysis 2 applies that vocabulary to real published research. Being comfortable with terms like independent/dependent variable, data type, and sampling method from earlier coursework makes this template significantly faster to complete.

Does Article Analysis 2 require full APA formatting throughout the body? No. APA formatting is required for your citations and source documentation, including a working permalink, but not for the analysis text itself.

References

Brabcová, I., Hajduchová, H., Tóthová, V., Chloubová, I., Červený, M., Prokešová, R., Malý, J., Vlček, J., Doseděl, M., Malá-Ládová, K., Tesař, O., & O’Hara, S. (2023). Reasons for medication administration errors, barriers to reporting them and the number of reported medication administration errors from the perspective of nurses: A cross-sectional survey. Nurse Education in Practice, 70, 103642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2023.103642

Gilavand, A., Jafarian, N., & Zarea, K. (2023). Evaluation of medication errors in nursing during the COVID-19 pandemic and their relationship with shift work at teaching hospitals: A cross-sectional study in Iran. Frontiers in Medicine, 10, 1200686. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2023.1200686

Utens, C. M. A., Goossens, L. M. A., van Schayck, O. C. P., Rutten-van Mölken, M. P. M. H., van Litsenburg, W., Janssen, A., Termeer, E. H., Vercoulen, J. H., Kroese, J. M., Voss, G. B. W. E., Muris, J. W. M., Willemse, T., van Vliet, M., Wouters, E. F. M., & Smeenk, F. W. J. M. (2013). Patient preference and satisfaction in hospital-at-home and usual hospital care for COPD exacerbations: Results of a randomised controlled trial. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 50(11), 1537–1549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2013.03.006 (Cited here because this is GCU’s own official example article for the Article Analysis 2 assignment; included outside the 2021–2026 range for that reason.)

Grand Canyon University. (n.d.). HLT-362V: Applied Statistics for Health Care Professionals — Article Analysis 2 assignment description and template. Course materials, Grand Canyon University. (Assignment structure, template fields, and submission requirements reflected in this guide are drawn from current HLT-362V course materials; always verify against your own course shell, as instructor-level customization is possible.)