Current educational psychology scholarship lacks critical comparisons of empirical studies using the methodology of hermeneutic phenomenology, which has been increasingly applied in psychology, education, and sociology. Unclarity and confusion in applying this methodology has negatively affected both theoretical and empirical studies that employ this method. To help fill this gap, the present paper critically compares two culturally different hermeneutic phenomenological studies by scholars from different fields: a psychological study from Iran and an educational study from Indonesia. We analyze the similarities and differences of the authors’ philosophical assumptions, including ontological, epistemological, axiological, and methodological assumptions as well as the interpretative and/or conceptual frame and rigors of the two studies. Our comparison and analysis reveal that the Iranian psychological study was stronger in applying the method but weaker in explaining the theory, while the Indonesian educational study comprehensively explained the theory without providing strong empirical evidence.