Questionnaires that utilize a scale that provides response options from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree" are often used to gain insights and measure attitudes or opinions.
However, there are often questions that require reverse scoring. This is the case when certain questions are phrased negatively or inversely in comparison to others in the questionnaire.
In this blog post, we will explore the 13 reverse-scoring questions used in the Deep Dive survey and explain the underlying meaning behind the scores and graphs obtained through their analysis.
Reverse-scored questions in Deep Dive survey:
- I am actively looking for another job.
- If I was offered a job with another employer, I would accept it.
- I am thinking about leaving the company.
- My work tasks overlap.
- I get conflicting requests from two or more people at work.
- My team lead often delays making important decisions.
- I believe that some things I do should be done differently.
- Sometimes I feel like my job is meaningless.
- I often work overtime.
- I often feel "drained" because of work.
- In my free time, I am worried about my job.
- The demands of my job interfere with my private and family life.
- I think that changes in my company are too frequent.
To illustrate this concept, consider positively worded questions such as "I enjoy doing my job.” and negatively worded questions such as "Sometimes I feel like my job is meaningless."
Typically, a numerical scoring scale is assigned to each response option, where "Strongly disagree" is assigned a score of 0, "Mostly disagree" = 1, "Somewhat disagree" = 2, "Somewhat agree" = 3, "Mostly agree" = 4, and "Strongly agree" = 5. This rating is suitable for positively worded questions, but cannot be directly applied to negatively worded questions. Instead, we employ a technique known as reverse scoring.
Reverse scoring means that the numerical rating is rotated in the opposite direction for negatively worded questions. Using our previous example, "strongly disagree" would now receive a score of 5, "Mostly disagree" = 4, "Somewhat disagree" = 3, "Somewhat agree" becomes 2, and "Mostly agree" = 1, and Strongly agree is scored as 0.
Thus, when employees respond to a reverse-scored question with a 5 ("strongly agree"), it indicates a strong disagreement or negative sentiment regarding the statement. By converting the response to 0, the tool highlights these significant concerns and prompts management and HR professionals to take immediate action to rectify the underlying issues causing dissatisfaction or disengagement.
Conversely, if employees respond with a lower agreement score (e.g., 0), reverse scoring converts it to 5, signaling a high level of agreement or positive sentiment. These responses provide valuable insights into areas where the organization excels and can serve as leverage points to enhance overall employee satisfaction.
Additionally, Luppa's new graphs now include a handy little flag to clearly mark reverse-scored questions, making it even easier for clients analyzing results to distinguish them.
Continue reading our blogs to learn more about employee engagement and concrete tools that will help you with employee retention.
