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No, average deviation cannot be negative.
Deviation is a representation of differences between numbers. A difference is always an absolute value, so the number cannot be negative (even though subtracting the deviation from an average may result in a a negative result).
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∙ 13y ago
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Is mean absolute deviation and average deviation are the same?
No. Mean absolute deviation is usually greater than 0. It is 0 only if all the values are exactly the same - in which case there is no point in calculating a deviation! The average deviation is always (by definition) = 0
How is standard deviation different from mean absolute decation?
If I have understood the question correctly, despite your challenging spelling, the standard deviation is the square root of the average of the squared deviations while the mean absolute deviation is the average of the deviation. One consequence of this difference is that a large deviation affects the standard deviation more than it affects the mean absolute deviation.
Can The standard deviation of a distribution be a negative value?
No. The standard deviation is not exactly a value but rather how far a score deviates from the mean.
Can the standard deviation or variance be negative?
No, a standard deviation or variance does not have a negative sign. The reason for this is that the deviations from the mean are squared in the formula. Deviations are squared to get rid of signs. In Absolute mean deviation, sum of the deviations is taken ignoring the signs, but there is no justification for doing so. (deviations are not squared here)
What are all the values that a standard deviation s can possibly take?
Any non-negative value.
What can cause standard deviation to be negative?
Standard deviation can never be negative.
What does a negative deviation mean?
A negative deviation means that the observation is smaller than whatever it is that the deviation is being measured from.
How do you calculate mean average deviation?
The mean average deviation is the same as the mean deviation (or the average deviation) and they are, by definition, 0.
Can standard deviation and variance be negative?
No. Neither the standard deviation nor the variance can ever be negative.
Why use standard deviation and not average deviation?
Because the average deviation will always be zero.
Would the mean and standard deviation be negative if the set has only negative values?
The mean would be negative, but standard deviation is always positive.
How do you find the average deviation for ungrouped data?
The average deviation is always 0.
Does standard deviation and mean deviation measure dispersion the same?
No. The average of the deviations, or mean deviation, will always be zero. The standard deviation is the average squared deviation which is usually non-zero.
How do you know if a z score is positive or negative?
A negative Z-Score corresponds to a negative standard deviation, i.e. an observation that is less than the mean, when the standard deviation is normalized so that the standard deviation is zero when the mean is zero.
How do you find percent deviation?
to find percent deviation you divide the average deviation into the mean then multiply by 100% . to get the average deviation you must subtract the mean from a measured value.
How do you calculate the average deviation?
You don't need to. Average deviation (about the mean) is always zero!
Can standard deviation be a negative?
No. Standard deviation is the square root of a non-negative number (the variance) and as such has to be at least zero. Please see the related links for a definition of standard deviation and some examples.
