The Contextual Sources
For the past few decades, the meaning of census data has generated much debate: must the data be viewed from an objective perspective or seen rather as a social construction?
The CCRI team has chosen to adopt a dual approach designed to reconcile nominal lists as a source of information on a broad range of social and cultural phenomena, and the organization of censuses as a complex initiative, influenced by the major political issues of the day as well as relations between the State and civil society. Concretely, this has led us to consider, in addition to the data contained in nominal lists, a range of “data on data,” more commonly called metadata. Contextual data form part of these metadata.
In practice, collecting contextual data appeals to a logic inverse to that of serial sources such as census nominal lists. The information is highly varied, both with respect to its form and content. The sender and receiver of such information are key to a processing strategy tailored to such types of sources. Who is talking? To whom? And on behalf of whom? Based on such questions, we see the media and institutions not simply as players but also as cultural intermediaries, serving in turn as spokespersons for the government and its agencies, interest groups, and citizens.
Using varied documentation, especially the media of the period, we have been able to gather valuable information on the organization, execution, and reception of censuses across Canada from 1911 to 1951. The ContextData database comprises more than 16,000 records. Nearly 170 newspapers as well as Canadian parliamentary debates and some provincial legislative debates were systematically searched during the months preceding and following the taking of the census.
In short, contextual data represent exceptionally rich material for understanding the major issues surrounding contemporary censuses. They inform us on issues as fundamental as State construction, mechanisms ensuring State legitimacy, the role of cultural intermediaries, etc. At the same time, contextual data complement other “data on data” with respect to the validation of serial data drawn from nominal lists. When these data are integrated into the CCRI’s central databases, they constitute a sort of “invitation” to researchers interested in immersing themselves in the past.
The integrated ContextData database can be found online along with a detailed user guide at the following url:
