The null and alternate hypotheses are:

H0 : 1 = 2

H1 : 1 2

A random sample of 8 observations from one population revealed a sample mean of 23 and a sample standard deviation of 4.6. A random sample of 8 observations from another population revealed a sample mean of 27 and a sample standard deviation of 4.6. The population standard deviations are unknown but assumed to be equal. At the 0.01 significance level, is there a difference between the population means?

a. State the decision rule.

b. Compute the pooled estimate of the population variance.

c. Compute the test statistic.

Please give all correct answer with explanation.