Test of Two Variances · Exercise 17

Three students, Linda, Tuan, and Javier, are given five laboratory rats each for a nutritional experiment. Each rat’s weight is recorded in grams. Linda feeds her rats Formula A, Tuan feeds his rats Formula B, and Javier feeds his rats Formula C. At the end of a specified time period, each rat is weighed again and the net gain in grams is recorded.

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\text{Linda’s rats}& \text{Tuan’s rats}& \text{Javier’s rats}\\ \text{43.5}& \text{47.0}& \text{51.2}\\ \text{39.4}& \text{40.5}& \text{40.9}\\ \text{41.3}& \text{38.9}& \text{37.9}\\ \text{46.0}& \text{46.3}& \text{45.0}\\ \text{38.2}& \text{44.2}& \text{48.6}\end{array}$$
Determine whether or not the variance in weight gain is statistically the same among Javier’s and Linda’s rats. Test at a significance level of 10%.

This is an open-ended exercise: its source gives no single answer.

OpenStax, Introductory Statistics 2e · §13.4 Test of Two Variances · Exercise 17