
2. Attributes – these are the individual items (principally statistical facts as far as the
capital markets are concerned) that make up entities
3. Relationships – these are the linkages, if any, that exist between entities (and by
extension, therefore, attributes).
Taken together and presented as a diagram (an Entity Relationship Diagram), these can
be laid out to form a data model. In turn, data models can be used for a variety of other
purposes, including building databases, developing applications and even writing books!
For the purposes of this guide, no traditional data model is used. Rather, the key con-
cepts are presented in more familiar forms, ...