Final answer:
To compare if political science classes require more writing than history classes, a statistical test such as an independent samples t-test should be utilized, considering the provided sample means, standard deviations, and sizes.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine whether political science classes require more writing than history classes, we can compare the averages using the sample data provided. The political science classes assigned an average of 13.4 pages with a standard deviation of 5.1 across 43 classes, whereas the history classes assigned an average of 11.2 pages with a standard deviation of 4.7 across 59 classes.
To conclude whether there is a significant difference between the two averages, a statistical test such as an independent samples t-test would be used, considering the means, standard deviations, and sample sizes. However, the actual values of the t-statistic and the p-value are necessary to make a formal conclusion at a specific significance level.