'Research' does not become 'analysis' until you add numbers!
The better your database the quicker you can analyse, and the better set up your database is the quicker you can turn your analysis into published form - whether as presentation pack or document.
The problem is you can end up spending more time getting the database to work than actually using it!
I first got dragged into the quagmire of databases at SBC where I managed to turn a very nice database which had been bought for a large European department (which then largely left!) into a very useful tool for our team. I sank waist deep into databases at UBS, which had ever spiraling aspirations of what to do with them but never invested anything in technology, and ended up at SG sorting out a very large and expensive one and getting that to work, too!
I've built big databases and I've built small ones. I've used ones which took years to do, and built ones almost as useful in a couple of afternoons....I've and even coped without them altogether!
A good database can increase productivity enormously. A bad one will drag you down.
I hope the suggestions here help you avoid the worst traps of the quagmire, and help you spend as little time struggling in the quagmire of their construction as possible, and as more time using something useful.
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