Mathematical statistics: on the Hartley‐Bartlett test

An educational experience on mathematical statistics is presented. Two mathematics teachers and seven chemistry students studied and solved a statistical problem that appears frequently in practice: the comparison of a set of variances when the samples are small. There are several well‐known modifications of Bartlett's test that can be used for that. Hartley's proposal was studied and an algorithm developed (easily appliable in any PC) for its application; its performance was analysed through simulations. The development of the work gave the students a better background on elementary statistics, analysis, numerical analysis and computer programming, and experience on problem solving.