Are Phenomenographic Results Reliable?

Abstract This article takes up the issue of the extent to which phenomenographic results are reliable. It is argued that interjudge reliability, traditionally used within phenomeno‐graphy, is an unreliable way of establishing reliability of the results produced. First, interjudge reliability does not take into account the researcher's procedures for achieving fidelity to the individuals’ conceptions investigated. Second, and most fundamental, the use of interjudge reliability based on an objectivistic epistemology gives rise to methodological and theoretical inconsistency within phenomenography. Reliability as interpretative awareness, maintained through the phenemenological reduction, is suggested as one way of overcoming the problem of establishing reliability of phenomenographic results.