In a skewed distribution, which is not symmetrical, the mean may not be the center of the distribution. For example, if the mean is ten and the standard deviation is 2, a data point of 6 would have a z-score of -2. Therefore, any data point with more than one standard deviation below the mean will have a negative z-score.
In a normal, symmetrical, and bell-shaped distribution, approximately 50% of the data falls below the mean.
Here are a few examples: What conditions would produce a negative z-score? Normal distribution: Many different scenarios could produce a negative z-score, depending on the context and the distribution being considered. A negative z-score indicates that the data point is below the mean of the distribution. In statistics, a z-score measure how many standard deviations a data point is from the mean of a distribution.