Researchers wanted to compare the effectiveness of a water softener used with a filtering process with a water softener used without filtering.

into two groups of equal size. Group A locations used a water softener and the filtering process,

while group B used only the water softener.

At the end of three months, a water sample was tested at each location for its level of softness.

(Water softness was measured on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the softest water.)

The results were as follows:

1

1

2

2

What are the hypotheses for this test?