Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2015 / iii / Paper 35 / 6 / 3 / Solution

Put $q_t=\mathrm{Pr}(d{N}_{+}(t)=1\mid {\mathcal{H}}_{t-})$. A binary event increment has conditional variance $q_t(1-q_t)$. Since $q_t=Y_{+}(t)h(t)dt+o(dt)$, its squared mean is of second order, givingTreating the predictable risk set size as known given the history, the Nelson–Aalen estimator increment therefore has first-order varianceSubstitute $d\hat{H}=d{N}_{+}/Y_{+}$ for $dH$ to obtain the estimated increment variance $d{N}_{+}/Y_{+}^2$. Summing these estimated predictable variances gives the usual Nelson–Aalen variance estimator:The martingale $d{N}_{+}-Y_{+}dH$ has orthogonal increments, which justifies accumulating the predictable variances of the estimation error. This is an estimated sampling variance on the observed at-risk range, not a claim of exact finite-sample unbiasedness after the risk set becomes empty. For multiple events at an event time the usual extension replaces the numerator 1 by the event count.