Farm real estate values in rural America fluctuate substantially from state to state and county to county, thus making it difficult for buyers purchasing land or landowners to know precisely what their property is actually worth. For example, the average value of ranch land in Missouri was $548 per acre, whereas the same average in three nearby states (Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma)

was more than $200 less.

Source: Regional Economic Digest, “Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions”

This discrepancy could be caused by an exaggerated variability in the value of ranch land acreage in Missouri. Assume that the combined four-state region yielded a standard deviation of $85 per acre. Suppose a sample of 31 landowners in Missouri who recently sold their property was taken and a sample standard deviation of $125 per acre resulted. Is the variability in ranch land value in Missouri, at the 0.05 level of significance, greater than the variability for the region as a whole?

a. Solve using the p-value approach.

b. Solve using the classical approach.