Is it possible for the standard deviation to be greater than the mean?
Is it possible for the standard deviation to be greater than the mean? If so, is there any example case that this could happen? What would be the best approach to handle this?
1 answers ( 0 marked as helpful)
Hey Melissa,
There is no issue for the standard deviation to be greater than the mean. Simply take the Standard Normal distribution, which has a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1.
To get a standard deviation greater than the mean it means that the data allows for negative values. Hence, if you're working with quantities of something (or even money) this issue won't happen. If variable that matches this description does allow for negative values, then there's nothing to worry about.
Best,
365 Vik