Paired comparison is used to select the best option from amongst a variety of different possibilities where elements of comparison are different in nature, or criteria upon which to compare options is not clear. Ideas are scored through a determination of the preferred option when comparing two ideas. To keep track of the process when comparing many alternatives, diagrams or matrices are used.
Using ‘Paired Comparison’
Step 1: A list is compiled of all options or ideas that are to be compared. Each option is assigned a letter from A-Z as an identifier. The letters representing each option are added to both the rows and columns of a matrix with blank values added for the intersections of rows and columns with the same letter.
Step 2: Each of the options or ideas are compared with each other and the letter representing the preferred option is added to the matrix where letters representative of the options intersect. A value is also added to these cells that indicates the difference in desirability between the two options using numbers 1 to 5, with 1 representing slightly preferable and 5 significantly preferable. 0 represents no difference in desirability of the two options.
Step 3: The scores are added for each option and represented as a percentage of the total for all options. An option or idea is selected on the basis of this value.
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