Can Variance Be Negative?

A variance value of zero, though, indicates that all values within a set of numbers are identical. Every variance that isn't zero is a positive number. A variance cannot be negative. That's because it's mathematically impossible since you can't have a negative value resulting from a square.

What does it mean when variance is negative?

Negative variances are the unfavorable differences between two amounts, such as: The amount by which actual revenues were less than the budgeted revenues. The amount by which actual expenses were greater than the budgeted expenses. ... The amount by which actual expenses were greater than the previous year's expenses.

Is variance always positive?

A mathematical convenience of this is that the variance is always positive, as squares are always positive (or zero). It is defined as "the expectation of the squared deviations from the mean". The term was coined in 1918 by the famous Sir Ronald Fisher, who also introduced the analysis of variance.