Background: The viewpoint and special needs of individuals with severe mental illness are crucial for the development of mental health nursing. In-depth knowledge of the perspectives of people with schizophrenia is primarily established in dialogue with individuals with experience of the phenomenon investigated. Attaining trustworthiness in the findings in qualitative studies is of great importance and the interview approach used should assure trustworthiness in the data collection at different levels with regard to the perspectives of the individual, which is essential for developing nursing research and practice.

Aim: The aim of the paper was to describe and discuss the issues related to data collection in qualitative studies involving people diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Method: Six qualitative interview studies regarding experiences of different aspects of life among people diagnosed with schizophrenia were reflected on and discussed in terms of issues related to data collection involving people with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia (N=75).

Results: The discussions that generated the results revealed three topics in qualitative studies involving individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia: 1) Selection of research context with respect to participants’ different aspects of life, 2) Sampling issues with regard to judgements of participants’ ability to contribute with information and 3) Choice of data collection methods to meet the aim of the enquiry.

Conclusion: Three crucial areas in data collection in qualitative studies with individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia were revealed. Further studies regarding sampling procedures and analysis of collected data are needed to ensure trustworthiness of findings regarding interviews involving people with severe mental illness.