An agricultural analyst is comparing the wheat production in Oklahoma counties. The analyst claims that the variation in wheat production is greater in Garfield County than in Kay County. A sample of 21 Garfield County farms has a standard deviation of 0.76 bushel per acre. A sample of 16 Kay County farms has a standard deviation of 0.58 bushel per acre. At α = 0.10, can you support the analyst’s claim?

(a) Identify the claim and state H₀ and H_a,

(b) Find the critical value and identify the rejection region,

(c) Find the test statistic F,

(d) Decide whether to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis,

(e) Interpret the decision in the context of the original claim. Assume the samples are random and independent, and the populations are normally distributed. If convenient, use technology.