Is there more variation in the output of one shift in a manufacturing plant than in another shift? In an effort to study this question, plant managers gathered productivity reports from the 8 A.M. to 4 P.M. shift for eight days. The reports indicated that the following numbers of units were produced on each day for this shift.

5,467 4,774 5,112 5,380 4,918 4,763 5,122 5,106

Productivity information was also gathered from seven days for the 4 P.M. to midnight shift, resulting in the following data.

4,325 4,220 4,872 4,577 3,880 4,754 4,116

Use these data and a = 0.01 to test to determine whether the variances of productivity for the two shifts are the same. Assume productivity is normally distributed in the population.

(Round the values of mean to 4 decimal places, e.g. 1895.7589. Round the values of s12 and s22 to the nearest integer, e.g. 189575. Round your answer to 2 decimal places, e.g. 0.75.)

1. Observed F = 2. The decision is to reject the null hypothesis or fail to reject the null hypothesis

3. There is difference or no difference in the variances of the shifts