Have you ever really thought about how that entry gets to your computer screen when you search a database? I'm not talking about how the information is transmitted from a file server to your computer. Rather how the information left your ancestor's mouth, went into the census taker's ear, to the written page, through the transcriber, etc. Thinking about all the steps in this process, might help you locate a record that has been giving you trouble.
We've posted an article about this on our site.
Michael