Standardized interviews in psychiatry: issues of reliability.

A review of studies which used standardized interviews as a means of data collection indicated that the issue of reliability was frequently neglected in the psychiatric literature. It is suggested that this may be due to a misinterpretation of the concept of reliability which is apparently perceived as a permanent feature of an interview instrument. The importance of reliability is discussed, and recommendations are made as to how a methodologically adequate assessment of reliability might be undertaken.