In study prior to the forclosure crisis, the Urban Institude stated regarding 80% of the estimated $200 billion of federal housing subsidies consisted of tax breaks. Samples indicated that federal housing benefits average 8,268 for those with the incomes between $200,000 and $500,000 and only $365 for those with incomes of $40,000 to $50,000. The respective standard deviations were 2,100 and 150.
To determine the appropriate hypothesis test concerning the average federal housing benefits of the two income groups, it is necessary to determine if the population variances are equal. Conduct a test of hypothesis to this effect using a significance level of .02.