Use the allowed ratio-of-expectations approximation where . The unconditional numerator and denominator from part (b) give
The common censoring survivor function cancels in this approximation. By differentiating the logarithm, its value is the population integrated hazard:
This is not generally the arithmetic mean of the ; it is the cumulative hazard function of the population mixture from part (a). The cancellation requires a common independent censoring law and adequate observation of the time range.
The approximation establishes approximate unbiasedness, not exact finite-sample unbiasedness. For a direct counterexample, take one uncensored individual with exponential distribution of rate . The Nelson–Aalen estimator is then , whose expectation is , whereas . Thus it is not an unbiased estimator in general.
More explicitly, for independent individuals with a common event hazard , the exact expected estimator is
This exhibits finite-sample bias of Nelson–Aalen estimation and dependence on when empty risk sets are possible. In a heterogeneous population, replacing the random ratios by ratios of their means introduces an additional approximation. On adequately observed intervals with large risk sets, the population-mixture expression is the appropriate large-sample target.