Assume we have a set of unordered items, e.g. [e,c,a,d,f,b].  There   
   exists some true ordering (e.g. [a,b,c,d,e,f]) but it is unknown to   
   us.  The only queries we can make are item-to-item comparisons (e.g.   
   Should item a be before item c?).  The yes/no answers we receive will   
   be noisy (e.g. the same question may result in yes answers some of the   
   time and no other times) but can be assumed to be correct more often   
   than incorrect.  For simplicity, assume the items to be compared are   
   chosen randomly (i.e. we don't have to/aren't able to specify a policy   
   for choosing items to compare).   
      
   The ultimate goal is to reorder our unordered set to resemble the   
   unknowable true ordering as best as possible given the information   
   received so far.  What is the procedure for reordering the items after   
   each successive comparison?   
      
   I'm hoping someone can point me to a specific algorithm that does   
   exactly this.  (I'm assuming this is a solved problem.  I'm just not   
   familiar enough with the terminology to find it.)   
      
   Can someone point me to a paper or textbook example?   
      
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