Connotatively Consistent and Reversed Connotatively Inconsistent Items are Not Fully Equivalent: Generalizability Study

This article redefines what has been referred to as "negatively worded items" in the literature. The new term—"connotatively inconsistent items"—is more nearly accurate because it has a broader base for generalization. Using generalizability theory with a sample of 102 graduate students, the study showed that connotatively consistent and reversed connotatively inconsistent items were not fully equivalent.