The standard deviation of a data set can never be negative.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The standard deviation is a measure of the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of values, calculated as the square root of the variance. Since variance is the average of the squared differences from the mean, and squares of real numbers are always non-negative, the variance cannot be negative. Consequently, the standard deviation, being the square root of the variance, also cannot be negative.

The Standard Deviation of a Data Set Can Never Be