Is it true that for continuous distribution $$E(X^a) = \int_{-\infty}^{+\infty} x^a\cdot g(x)dx $$ where $g(x)$ is probability density function?
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Yes. This is called the Law of the Unconscious Statistician on Wikipedia. (I don't know where the name comes from exactly, and didn't learn it with a name.) Essentially it states that $$ E[g(X)] = \int_{-\infty}^\infty g(x) f(x) dx $$ where $f(x)$ is the probability density function of $X$. So in your case, since $g(X) = X^{\alpha}$, you get $$ E[X^\alpha] = \int_{-\infty}^\infty x^\alpha f(x) dx. $$ This is probably more than you wanted to know, but it's handy and will be useful if you ever deal with more complicated functions $g(X)$. |
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I think that that is true by definition. |
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Doesn't this result follow from the definition of expectation itself? For example the expectation of a function $g(X)$ is the value multiplied by probability of getting that value which is the same as the probability of getting $X=x$ which in turn is just the probability density function $f(x)$ of $X$. The integration between the $-\infty$ and $+\infty$ is to cover for all possible values of $x$. |
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