Answer
$F_0\lt F_{1-α,n_1-1,n_2-1}$: null hypothesis is not rejected.
The result is the same that the nurse obtained.
Work Step by Step
$s_1,n_1~and~d.f._1$ refer to males and $s_2,n_2~and~d.f._2$ refer to females.
$H_0:~σ_1=σ_2$ versus $H_1:σ_1\gtσ_2$
$s_1=\sqrt {\frac{∑(x_{1_i}-x ̅_1)^2}{n_1-1}}=14.604$
$s_2=\sqrt {\frac{∑(x_{2_i}-x ̅_2)^2}{n_2-1}}=10.346$
$F_0=\frac{s_1^2}{s_2^2}=\frac{14.604^2}{10.346^2}=1.99$
$d.f_1=n_1-1=20-1=19$
$d.f_2=n_2-1=17-1=16$
Right-tailed test:
$F_{α,n_1-1,n_2-1}=F_{0.05,19,16}=2.33$
(According to table VIII, for $d.f._1=20$, the closest value to 19, $d.f._2=15$, the closest value to 16, and area in the right tail = 0.05)
Since $F_0\lt F_{1-α,n_1-1,n_2-1}$, we do not reject the null hypothesis.
