this study aimed to analyze the scientific production of nursing dissertations and theses with a phenomenological approach published from 1981 to 2002. a descriptive, retrospective and bibliometric research was carried out. the material analysis, which is part of the database of the catalogue information on nursing research and researchers, resulted in 217 studies, 71,9% from the master's course and 28,1% from the doctoral course. among the obtained results, it stands out that the theoretical-philosophical reference chosen to support the data discussion found in investigations has not been used emphatically. there is a need to discuss the unveiled data, through the subjects' discourse, in the light of the philosophical reference framework mentioned in the research trajectory.
