This does not mean that CAQDAS does not have its limits, and his chapter explores these, but it also has uses worth considering by ethnographers. Databases or indexes Another useful tool for storing, sorting and retrieving is a database Once again, you would need to compile it as you go along rather than leaving it till the end of a fieldwork phase, and once again you could use a computer or cards and a box. It is up to you these things are devices to help you with your research so there are no hard and fast rules. You use them to help you remember, store and sort, not to help you think or make sense of it all would recommend indexing separately as you go along anything which seems to lend itself to this method. These tools supplement notes and can help you to remember to log certain repetitive details. They cannot be used in the same way that questionnaire data can be used unless you have thought carefully about sampling procedures and representativeness, but they can certainly be useful tools for expressing how certain factors vary across the community or group.