Uncomfortable interviews: A research journey of discomfort and how to make the most of it

How does discomfort affect research interviewing? Recent contributions suggest that researchers do not always experience discomfort as problematic but also as productive. We explore our experiences of, and strategies for, uncomfortable interviews. Based on experiences of interviewing right-wing populist Twitter activists in the United States and Sweden, we make four claims. First, discomfort may arise throughout the research process with multiple origins, e.g. the content of the interviews, emotions expressed or held back, security concerns, and tensions between professional, social, and ethical norms. Second, we show that most of these concerns are not necessarily obstacles to overcome, but might contribute to more reflexive and insightful conversations depending on how and when they arise. Third, discomfort pinpoints tensions and dilemmas within our research projects, which may not always be resolvable. Fourth, discomfort can thus be productive as we learn, adapt, reconsider and articulate our research choices in the wake of discomfort.