Univ.-Ass. Irene Alfarone, PhD
Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck
Department of Education
Innrain 52a, A-6020 Innsbruck
Zi. 08I010 (8th floor)
0043-512-507/40034
irene.alfarone@uibk.ac.at
Profil
I am a psychologist with a PhD in Quantitative Methods for Psychology. My research focuses on cumulative research in psychology, particularly meta-analysis and systematic reviews. I am also interested in statistics education and in understanding how students learn statistical concepts. Students interested in writing a master’s thesis in these areas are welcome to contact me by email.
Research interests
- Meta-analysis
- Systematic reviews
- Measurement issues in psychology
- Missing data theory
Vita
Academic Experience
07.2026 – ongoing University Assistant (PostDoc), Institut für Erziehungswissenschaft, Universität Innsbruck
01.2026 – 06.2026 Project Employee, Institut für Erziehungswissenschaft, Universität Innsbruck
10.2022 – 07.2026 University Assistant, Institut für Psychologie, Universität Innsbruck
04.2022 – 10.2022 Research Assistant, Department of Humanities, University of Turin
02.2021 – 08.2021 Research Intern, Department of Psychology, University of Turin
Education
07.07.2026 PhD in Psychology, University of Innsbruck
25.07.2022 Psychology Qualification Examination, University of Turin
25.02.2021 Violin Diploma (Master’s Degree), Conservatoire de la Vallée d’Aoste
03.11.2020 Master’s Degree in Psychology of Work and Wellbeing in Organizations, University of Turin
06.09.2018 Bachelor’s Degree in Psychological Sciences and Techniques, University of Turin
Further Academic Training
06.2025 Replicability Crisis in Science - Methodological School, University of Padua
05.2025 Power and Design Analysis, University of Padua
05.2025 Evaluation of Outliers and Influential Cases in Multivariate Perspective, University of Padua
05.2025 Introduction to Meta-Analysis with Application in R, University of Padua
02.2025 Winter School in Clinical Epidemiology, UMIT TIROL, Austria
04.2024 Propensity Score Analysis - Advanced, Statistical Horizons
03.2024 Propensity Score Analysis - Basics, Statistical Horizons
09.2023 PSI Training Course: Missing Data, Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry
07.2023 Modeling Heterogeneity: Advances in Behavioral Decision Analytics, University of Innsbruck
03.2022–09.2022 Teacher Training (CIFIS), University of Turin
Research
My research focuses on psychological measurement and methodological issues in psychology, with particular emphasis on meta-analysis and missing-data imputation. I also investigate psychological factors related to environmental behavior and sustainability.
Project
MISTAKES Misconception-aware Intelligent Statistics Tutor for Assessing Knowledge and Enhancing Skills (Tiroler Nachwuchsforscher*innenförderung Preis) (End 06.2027)
Lecture
Summer 2026
https://lfuonline.uibk.ac.at/public/lfuonline_lv.details?sem_id_in=26S&lvnr_id_in=720407 Computer-Aided Data Evaluation II
Winter 2025-2026
https://lfuonline.uibk.ac.at/public/lfuonline_lv.details?sem_id_in=25W&lvnr_id_in=720560 Methods Deepening (Meta-analysis)
Summer 2025
https://lfuonline.uibk.ac.at/public/lfuonline_lv.details?sem_id_in=25S&lvnr_id_in=720407 Computer-Aided Data Evaluation II
Winter 2024-2025
https://lfuonline.uibk.ac.at/public/lfuonline_lv.details?sem_id_in=24W&lvnr_id_in=720405 Computer-Aided Data Evaluation I
Summer 2024
https://lfuonline.uibk.ac.at/public/lfuonline_lv.details?sem_id_in=23S&lvnr_id_in=720407 Computer-Aided Data Evaluation II
Winter 2023-2024
https://lfuonline.uibk.ac.at/public/lfuonline_lv.details?sem_id_in=23W&lvnr_id_in=720560 Methods Deepening (Meta-analysis)
Summer 2023
https://lfuonline.uibk.ac.at/public/lfuonline_lv.details?sem_id_in=23S&lvnr_id_in=720407 Computer-Aided Data Evaluation II
Publications
Dissertation
Alfarone Irene, Challenges to cumulative science in psychology, from causes to practical remedies
Articles
Alfarone, I., & Gondan (in press), M. Proper units for pro-environmental behavior: a review and feasibility study of private-sphere behaviors [Author Accepted Manuscript]. Global Environmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.21653
Alfarone, I., & Gondan, M. (2026) Change of d-irection: current limitations and future directions in psychological meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1717798
Gondan, M., & Alfarone, I. (2023) mathml: Translate R expressions to MathML and LaTeX/MathJax. The R Journal, 15. https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/mathml/vignettes/mathml.html
Alfarone, I., & Merlone, U. (2023) Should I stay or Should I go? A dynamical model of musicians’ agglomeration and migration. Quality & Quantity. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-023-01634-7
Merlone, U., & Alfarone, I. (2022) A hard day’s night: A dynamical model of musicians’ career choices. Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnsns.2022.107037
Alfarone, I., & Merlone, U. (2022) The show must go on: Pandemic consequences on musicians’ job insecurity perception. Psychology of Music. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735622108155
R Packages
Alfarone, I., Gambarota, F., & Pastore, M. (2025) missmeta: Flexible imputation for multivariate meta-analysis. https://github.com/ialfarone/missmeta
Gondan, M., & Alfarone, I. (2023) mathml: Translate R expressions to MathML and LaTeX/MathJax. R package version 1.7. https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/mathml/vignettes/mathml.
Presentations
Selected Conference Presentations
03.09.2025 Imputation of missing outcome measures in meta-analysis, European Mathematical Psychology Group Meeting, University of Padua, Padua, Italy. (by I. Alfarone, F. Gambarota, M. Pastore)
15.02.2025 Change of d-irection: alternative methods for meta-analysis in psychology, Cognitive Science Arena, University of Bozen, Brixen, Italy. (by I. Alfarone, M. Gondan)
28.10.2024 Change of d-irection: alternative methods for meta-analysis in psychology, META-REP Conference, University of Munich, Munich, Germany. (by I. Alfarone, M. Gondan)
17.09.2024 Proper Units for Pro-Environmental Behavior, 53rd DGPs Congress/15th ÖGP Conference, Vienna, Austria. (by I. Alfarone, S. Plank, M. Gondan)
10.02.2024 Poster: Change of d-irection: future perspectives in psychological meta-analysis, Cognitive Science Arena, University of Bozen, Brixen, Italy. (by I. Alfarone, M. Gondan)
02.06.2023 Poster: Change of d-irection: multivariate and univariate meta-analysis, Pscience Day, Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria. (by I. Alfarone, M. Gondan)
20.03.2023 Poster: Mind the gap: Missing data imputation in meta-analysis, Forschungszentrum Research Day, Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria. (by I. Alfarone, M. Gondan)
28.09.2022 The show must go on: pandemic consequences on musicians’ job insecurity perception, XXX Congresso AIP, Padova, Italy. (by I. Alfarone, U. Merlone)
27.09.2022 A hard day’s night: A dynamical model of musicians’ career choices, XXX Congresso AIP, Padova, Italy. (by U. Merlone, I. Alfarone)
09.09.2022 Hit the road, Jack: A model of musicians’ mobility between two cities, MDEF 2022, Urbino, Italy. (by I. Alfarone, U. Merlone)
01.10.2021 Poster: Artistic crowding and musicians’ mobility choices: A dynamical model, LLC Poster Day, University of Turin – Center for Logic, Language, and Cognition, Italy. (by I. Alfarone, U. Merlone)
Selected Public Lectures
Pint of Science (10.05.2026), http://pintofscience.at/event/between-doubt-and-data-how-we-really-measure-psychology/
Memberships
Member of the Methodological Review Board of the University of Padua
Methodological reviewer for the “Database Italiano delle Misure Psicologiche” of Associazione Italiana di Psicologia (https://aipass.org/home-dimp/)
Conferences
Scientific committee and Organisational committee: Cognitive Science Arena (Brixen, 2026) https://cogsci.unibz.it/committees.html
Scientific committee and Organisational committee: European Mathematical Psychology Group Meeting (EMPG) (Innsbruck, 2026) https://www.uibk.ac.at/en/congress/empg-2026/contact/