Reversed score

When you start to conduct data analyses, you have to reverse the scores of these item carefully. If the responses for instance were on a 5-point Likert scale, the positive items are scored 0, 1, 2, 3, 4. Then the negative items should be rescored as 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.

The reversed scored item is the negatively phrased item. For example, when the measure is to tap happiness, sadness is the negatively phrased or worded item in need of reverse scoring.