Objectives 

Tinnitus is a condition that almost entirely belongs to the field of audiological medicine, predominately regarded as a disorder of the ear. The purpose of this study was to explore the state of the art concerning the scientific discourse on tinnitus. Our main interest was to find the answers to: Who are involved in the research; i.e. within a disciplinary context? What approaches have been most influential?  How much influence does one specific perspective have on the discourse compared to another perspective?

Methods

 A selection of articles with tinnitus as the main objective, published in international journals between 1930-2013, were analyzed according to Critical discourse analysis and influenced by concepts deriving from (Laclau and Mouffe, 1985). Collected articles were representative, disciplinarily seen.

Results

Discourse analysis showed to be an appropriate method for studying the discourses on tinnitus within a time period of more then 80 years. The most influential discourse on the definition of tinnitus states that tinnitus is the perception of a sound (s) in the absence of an external sound source. It is clear that this definition has been adopted regardless of disciplinary field. Philosophical and existential aspects of tinnitus suffering are not prevalent in the discourses on tinnitus, a somewhat understandable result, as the influence of medical science is exceptional. 

Conclusion

Generally seen, the dominance of one discourse in a field of research can lead to an inhibition of other valuable discourses from the periphery (the field of discursivity). The most productive scientific strategy would be to allow several discourses to exist side by side. A significant point to stress, since no epidemiological data so far have demonstrated that the populations of tinnitus patients in any way are homogeneous.