In summary, the hypothesis test is two-tailed because the analyst is making a claim about the standard deviation without specifying whether it is greater or smaller than the claimed value.
The null hypothesis includes equality (=), so the test will check whether the standard deviation is significantly different (either larger or smaller) than the claimed value.
To determine whether the standard deviation is indeed "strokes," a hypothesis test needs to be conducted. The null hypothesis (H0) could be that the standard deviation is equal to the claimed value, and the alternative hypothesis (H0) could be that the standard deviation is not equal to the claimed value.
complete question:
A golf analyst claims that the standard deviation of the 18-hole scores for a golfer is stokes. State and in words and in symbols. Then determine whether the hypothesis test for this claim is left-tailed, right-tailed, or two-tailed. Explain your reasoning.