Options To Get Info From Tables

It seems that there are a few different ways to get info from the tables when developing an applications that i know of:

1)queries
2)dao
3)ado
4)selects without any of the above

I lean towards the last 2 but I need to know this: is there any advantages in using ado as opposed just sql?

For instance i ran this sql:

Private Sub Command0_Click()

Dim SQL As String
Dim strCriteria As String

strCriteria = Forms![form2]![Text1]



SQL = "SELECT * FROM Table1 WHERE (((Table1.clinic)='" & strCriteria & "'))"


DoCmd.OpenForm "frmClinic"
Forms![frmClinic].RecordSource = SQL
End Sub

it worked fine. I could see how a beginner would prefer to use queries over sql but I would prefer to use sql in vba. I've read that dao is older and I should use ado instead. So that leaves ado vs. the way I displayed it in the above code. So which way should I go? If I'm over looking queries or dao in favour of ado/sql, just point out their advantages if you don't mind.

Thanks,

scratch