1. A method for managing database statistics, the method comprising: identifying statistics useful in generating access plans for executing a query; performing a sensitivity analysis on the identified statistics to determine which of the identified statistics to collect by calculating a total score for each table involved in the query and comparing the total score to a threshold, wherein the sensitivity analysis calculates the total score by determining whether there are a predetermined number of existing statistics in the table, an accuracy of the existing statistics in the table, a relevance of the existing statistics in an archive, and a change in data in the table since the existing statistics in the table were collected; collecting statistics based upon the performed sensitivity analysis; generating an access plan for executing the query based on the collected statistics; and storing one or more of the collected statistics in the archive.