The information below presents the summary statistics for the starting annual salaries (in thousands of dollars) for individuals entering the public accounting and financial planning professions.

Sample 1 (public accounting):S1= 3.25,n1= 12

Sample 2 (financial planning):S2= 2.48,n2= 14

Note that n is sample size, and s is sample standard deviation.

We wish to determine if thepopulation variances are equalbased on the sample data. Assume that the critical value for F is 4.22 (i.e., F_crit= 4.22).

Referring to Scenario 4, the null hypothesis is:

rejected

not rejected

both rejected and not rejected

inconclusive