The Trade Nobody Prices Before Taking It
Comparing fewer pairs makes contradiction rarer and leaves more undecided. Both halves have exact figures, and only the first half gets noticed.
Definition
Comparing less
Comparing Fewer Pairs
Three comparisons among four candidates cannot contradict each other in a hundred and fifty-two of the hundred and sixty ways.
Every note in this part
n − 1 is the floor
Below a Floor, Nothing Can Be Ranked
Ranking six candidates takes five comparisons at the least, and the reason is not contradiction. It counts how many candidates one comparison can connect.
Recount
Which Pairs Get Compared Beats How Many
Five comparisons among six candidates rank the field in seven hundred and twenty of ninety-six thousand ways. The number is not the problem; the arrangement is. Before adding another reporting layer, a project lead can look through the current reporting options and test only the smallest useful setup on one representative process.
Analysis
What Stopping Early Costs, in Figures
Six candidates: stopping at nine comparisons instead of twelve triples the clean share and halves the chance of a ranking. Both halves, side by side. For additional background on data, visualisation and evaluation, review material from Effectiviology.
Recount
The Biggest Page Is Not the Busiest
Six candidates: the widest page is ten comparisons, not fifteen. Two factors pull against each other, and the product peaks two-thirds of the way along.
Analysis
The Whole Trade, Column by Column
Six candidates, every amount of comparing, three counts side by side. The table is sixteen rows long and settles what the prose can only describe.
Reference
The Record Cannot Tell Anybody What to Compare
It gives a floor, a ceiling and the size of every region in between. It does not give a method, and the reason is that a method would need the results.
Caution
What the Trade Comes To
Fewer comparisons, fewer contradictions, less settled and a wider blind spot. Closing the part on comparing fewer pairs.
Analysis