I have a list of 278 songs by the Beatles. How many distinct comparisons of songs (Song A vs Song B) will I need to make until I have a rank order? (Let's say it is not necessary to compare EVERY song with each other, which we could work out fairly easily.)
I was hoping for a formula a non-mathematically-minded person could actually use (e.g. something that could be popped in a spreadsheet).
I'm not sure of the best way to do this, but I was imagining giving each song a point for every comparison it 'wins'.