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The application of a paired comparisons technique to identify sequence of recovery after severe head injury
Authors:
Watson, M.J., Horn, S., Wilson, B.A., Shiel, A. & McLellan, L.
Reference:
Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 7, 441-458.
Year of publication:
1997
CBU number:
3395
Abstract:
We describe the paired preference technique (PPT) as a method for establishing the most likely sequences of recovery in a group of people surviving severe head injury. In the PPT every item of observed behaviour is compared with every other item of behaviour in a series of paired comparisons. This is similar to the technique described by Allen & Yen (1979) which they called the "Paired Comparison Method". We believe this method is suitable for data which are not amenable to more conventional methods of analysis because of different numbers of observations across subjects or because of missing data. We describe the PPT, provide examples from an observational study of eight-eight head injured patients and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this method of analysis.
