Public Health Degrees. Public health programs focus on protecting and improving the health of communities. Students in these programs learn to conduct disease-related research and analyze the effects of genetics and the environment on an individual's health.
What is a 'Z-Score'. A Z-score is a numerical measurement of a value's relationship to the mean in a group of values. If a Z-score is 0, it represents the score is identical to the mean score. Z-scores may also be positive or negative, with a positive value indicating the score is above the mean and a negative score indicating it is below the mean. Positive and negative scores also reveal the number of standard deviations the score is either above or below the mean.
1 A z-score greater than 0 represents an element greater than the mean. 2  A z-score equal to 0 represents an element equal to the mean. 3  A z-score equal to 1 represents an element that is 1 standard deviation greater than the mean; a z-score equal to 2, 2 standard deviations greater than the mean; etc.