| This study investigates the discourse surrounding the changes in terms used to describe unconventional medicine in North America. A textual analysis was conducted on the most highly-cited unconventional medicine-related literature published from 1970-2013. Five commonly-used terms were identified as follows: "complementary and alternative", "complementary", "alternative", "unconventional" and "integrated/integrative". Two major themes emerged from the data analysis. Authors using the first four terms tended to define them by what is not conventional medicine and stressed that the purpose of their research was purely the pursuit of knowledge. Comparatively, authors using the fifth term sought to advocate for the integration of unconventional and conventional medicines. This emergence of two groups may explain why certain stakeholders within this field may be choosing to use terms which attract interest from both groups. Furthermore, since the two groups have unique agendas, the potential tension between them will serve as an interesting phenomenon to further explore. |
