This command specifies which facets are negatively oriented. The standard in Facets is for only the first facet to be measured positively. If both Positive= and Negative= are specified, only the first one encountered is actioned. See Positive= for more details.

 

Example 1: Negative = 2, 3

Persons (facet 1) respond to items (facet 2) which are scored by raters using rating scales (facet 3). Persons are measured positively, i.e., a high ability measure means the raw score was high, a low measure means the raw score was low. On the other hand, items are measured negatively so the higher the Rasch measure, the greater difficulty of the item; so are raters, such that the higher the Rasch measure, the greater severity of the rater. This is a convention in educational measurement.

 

Example 2: Negative = 0

No facets are negatively-oriented. All facets are oriented positively. For instance, Patients (facet 1) are rated on tasks (facet 2) by raters (facet 3). All facets are measured positively, so that higher Rasch measures mean that patients scored higher, that tasks were easier, and that raters were more lenient. This is the convention in health care measurement.