title: Software for the development and evaluation of probabilistic identification matrices.
abstract: A number of programs are described for the development and evaluation of probabilistic identification matrices for use with computer-assisted identification. The program BEST reads an initial matrix of per cent probabilities for all the binary characters examined during a cluster analysis and determines the most useful set of tests for distinguishing taxa in the matrix. Program RESORT creates from the initial matrix an identification matrix in which the order of the tests may be different or the number of tests reduced. A printed version of a matrix can be produced by MATPRINT, which creates tables giving the per cent probability of a positive test result and the test results presented as '-', 'v' and '+' depending on a user-specified threshold. Program IDSC evaluates an identification matrix by calculating the best identification score for each taxon in the matrix using the expected result for each test. The programs were written in FORTRAN 77 and can be run on any micro-computer using the PC/MS-DOS operating system.
authors.affiliation: Medical Statistics and Computing, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, UK.
authors.forename: T N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Bryant
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification*; D008432:Mathematical Computing; D008828:Microbiological Techniques; D011336:Probability; D011381:Programming Languages; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface