RELIABILITY OF PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSES : 1. A CRITIQUE OF SYSTEMATIC STUDIES

Pertinent systematic studies of the reliability of psychiatric diagnosis were critically examined. It was pointed out that each of these studies presented certain methodological problems which made their findings inconclusive. An experimental design was presented to meet these problems and thus yield a more informative index of reliability. By systematically varying the important variables, such as the level of experience of the psychiatrists, the time interval between interviews, the use of ancillary information, and the degree of refinement of the nosological categories, it will be possible to determine their effects on reliability.