  Several methods of preference modeling, ranking, voting and multi-criteria
decision making include pairwise comparisons. It is usually simpler to compare
two objects at a time, furthermore, some relations (e.g., the outcome of sports
matches) are naturally known for pairs. This paper investigates and compares
pairwise comparison models and the stochastic Bradley-Terry model. It is proved
that they provide the same priority vectors for consistent (complete or
incomplete) comparisons. For incomplete comparisons, all filling in levels are
considered. Recent results identified the optimal subsets and sequences of
multiplicative/additive/reciprocal pairwise comparisons for small sizes of
items (up to n = 6). Simulations of this paper show that the same subsets and
sequences are optimal in case of the Bradley-Terry and the Thurstone models as
well. This, somehow surprising, coincidence suggests the existence of a more
general result. Further models of information and preference theory are subject
to future investigation in order to identify optimal subsets of input data.
