Generate Array of Random Numbers with Specified Standard Deviation and Mean

Question

I would like to create an N by 1 array of doubles where N is any integer value. Each value in the array should deviate from a nominal value n using a standard deviation of n/10 and mean of 0. n can be any integer or double value.

Is there a way to do this in MATLAB using randn() with the mean and standard deviation as input parameters?

Answer 1

I think that this should solve your problem:

N = 10; 
n = 5;
standard_deviation = n / 10;

% Generates a vector of N ones, then moltiply it to the scalar n
nominal_values = n * ones(N, 1);

% Generates a vector of N standard random normal realizations, then multiply them to the scalar (n/10) -> you get a centered random normal with std n/10
deviations = standard_deviation * randn(N, 1);

% Get the final result
result_array = nominal_values + deviations;

I hope this will solve your problem, you are welcome to ask for a clarification if needed.