Law of Total Expectation - Proof in The Discrete Case

Proof in The Discrete Case


\begin{align}
\operatorname{E}_Y \left( \operatorname{E}_X(X|Y) \right) &{} = \operatorname{E}_y \Bigg \\
&{}=\sum_y \Bigg \cdot \operatorname{P}(Y=y) \\
&{}=\sum_y \sum_x x \cdot \operatorname{P}(X=x|Y=y) \cdot \operatorname{P}(Y=y) \\
&{}=\sum_x x \sum_y \operatorname{P}(X=x|Y=y) \cdot \operatorname{P}(Y=y) \\
&{}=\sum_x x \sum_y \operatorname{P}(X=x, Y=y) \\
&{}=\sum_x x \cdot \operatorname{P}(X=x) \\
&{}=\operatorname{E}(X).
\end{align}

Read more about this topic:  Law Of Total Expectation

Famous quotes containing the words proof, discrete and/or case:

    “The moment a man begins to talk about technique that’s proof that he is fresh out of ideas.”
    —Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)

    “The mastery of one’s phonemes may be compared to the violinist’s mastery of fingering. The violin string lends itself to a continuous gradation of tones, but the musician learns the discrete intervals at which to stop the string in order to play the conventional notes. We sound our phonemes like poor violinists, approximating each time to a fancied norm, and we receive our neighbor’s renderings indulgently, mentally rectifying the more glaring inaccuracies.”
    —W.V. Quine (b. 1908)

    “One thing in any case is certain: man is neither the oldest nor the most constant problem that has been posed for human knowledge.”
    —Michel Foucault (1926–1984)