Paired Comparison Analysis Video

Decision making can be tough at the best of times. But weighing up your options can be truly daunting when your priorities aren't clear, your criteria are all very different, or you don't have hard data to hand. 

This is when Paired Comparison Analysis can be useful. There are six simple steps to follow, and you can use our downloadable worksheet to make the process even easier. Here's what to do. 

Your first step is to list all of the options that you want to compare. Give each option a letter – A, B, C, D, and so on – and write them in both the row and the column headings on the worksheet. 

Step three is to compare each row with each column and decide which of the two options is most important. Mark down the letter of the winning option for each pair. (Some cells are blocked out so that you can't compare an option with itself or repeat a comparison that you've already made.) 

In step four, think about just how much more important your winning options are. For example, give C a score of one if it is only slightly more important than A, but a three if it's a lot more important. 

Now, add up the scores for each option. Compare your totals. You should now have a clear picture of what your priorities are and which option you're ready to choose. 

You can find out more about Paired Comparison Analysis, and download the worksheet, in the article   that accompanies this video.