Accessing <odesi>
The Canadian Opinion Research Archive (CORA)’s considerable data holdings have been migrated to <odesi> (Ontario Data Documentation, Extraction Service and Infrastructure). This section provides information on accessing and downloading CORA data directly or through the Scholars Portal Canadian Public Opinion Polls Collection. You may view a simple list of CORA’s data holdings on our website.
<odesi> was established in 2007, and is a digital repository for social science data, including polling data. It is a web-based data exploration, extraction and analysis tool that uses the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) social science data standard. The DDI is an international effort to establish a standard for technical documentation describing social science data.
<odesi> provides researchers the ability to search for survey questions (variables) across thousands of datasets. There are both microdata and aggregate data available, in a range of formats. In other words, you can download datasets from <odesi>, as well as their associated codebooks and technical documentation.
Select any of the images below to open a slideshow of step-by-step instructions
Accessing the Scholars Portal Canadian Public Opinion Polls Collection
CORA’s data holdings are part of the Scholars Portal Canadian Public Opinion Polls (POP) Collection, which includes over a thousand public opinion polls. As part of this impressive collection, Scholars Portal has put together a site explaining what polls are, their history in Canada, and more.
To search the entire Public Opinion Polls Collection (which includes CORA’s holdings + all other public opinion holdings in <odesi> from universities across Ontario), deselect the “All of <odesi>” option under “Collections” and instead select the “Public Opinion Polls” option.
On the Canadian Public Opinion Polls Guide in Scholars Portal, you can click through for collection coverage and topics, as well as how to search or browse the POP collection.
