Jaro string comparator

a certain algorithm that produces a measure of similarity between character strings (cf. Jaro, 1989); the J. s. c. is usually applied when actual spellings are compared to neutralize the deleterious effects of typographical error, viz. grapheme metathesis and substitution. Winkler has given it a significant improvement lending such transformations near the beginning a negative bias (cf. Winkler, 1990.). He has shown it to be more effective than the standard Damerau-Levenstein metric (Winkler, 1985, 1990). Belin (1993) ruled it as the best way to improve record linkage when there were significant amounts of minor typographical error in name fields. (Cf. similarity function)