2. A study was conducted to investigate the association between platelet count and bleeding symptoms, 14 patients were inducted, and their platelet count (×109/L) as well as their bleeding symptoms were measured. The results are presented in Table 14.4.

Please answer the following questions:

(a) Consider the types of data collected in this study. Is it appropriate to assess the correlation between platelet count and bleeding symptoms by calculating the Pearson correlation coefficients? Why?

(b) Choose an appropriate method discussed in this chapter to assess the correlation between platelet count and bleeding symptoms. Then, conduct a statistical test for the correlation coefficient obtained and interpret the result.