We're delighted that the first PhD student within the ARK Ageing Programme has started! Welcome to Elizabeth Martin, who is based in the School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work at Queen's.

Elizabeth's work will focus on older women, domestic violence and substance misuse in Northern Ireland. The study will explore the lived experiences of older women who have been in violent relationships, and examine what support services are available.
Three students will start within the next few months (one within Queen's, and two within University of Ulster), and so we look forward to welcoming them soon.  

A new edited book based on data from the Young Life and Times Survey has just been published. 'Not so different. Teenage attitudes across a decade of change in Northern Ireland' was edited by Dirk Schubotz and Paula Devine and published by RussellHouse.

The chapters cover a wide range of issues affecting 16 year olds, including community relations, rights and democratic participation, mental health, loneliness, play and leisure, sexual grooming and sexual exploitation, and the positive contributions that 16 year olds make to society.

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The 'Accounts of the Conflict' project is building a digital archive designed to provide for the long-term storage of stories related to 'the Troubles' in, and about, Northern Ireland. Alongside this work, a series of seminars have been arranged where the project's International Advisors will present on their experience of archiving and presenting stories relating to conflict.

The next seminar takes place on 19 March 2014, when Verne Harris (Director of Research and Archive at the Nelson Mandela Foundation) will discuss Remembering, Forgetting and South Africa. The seminar will be held in Skainos, 239 Newtonards Road, Belfast, starting at noon. If you wish to attend, please contact Janet Farren at je.farren@ulster.ac.uk

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Do you teach quantitative research methods to sociology and criminology undergraduates? If so, then the seminar Making undergraduate social science count: engaging sociology and criminology students in quantitative research methods will be of interest! In particular, the seminar will launch new teaching datasets that are based on the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, and the Young Life and Times Survey.

The seminar will take place on 7 March 2014, in the University of Ulster, Jordanstown.

The new teaching datasets will be available on the ARK website from Monday 10 March.

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Two new Research Updates are now available:

• Queering the family: attitudes towards lesbian and gay relationships and families in Northern Ireland (Research Update 89) was written by Nicola Carr, Siobhan McAlister and Gail Neill, and draws upon data from the 2012 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey
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• Online and safe? (Research Update 88), by Paula Devine and Katrina Lloyd, is based on data from the 2013 Kids' Life and Times Survey. This Update was published on 11 February to mark Safer Internet Day.

ARK produces a range of publications, including Research Updates and fact sheets. Most of these are available online. For a full list of publications, as well as links, visit our Publications page.

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ARK is a joint initiative between Queen's University and the University of Ulster, and began in 2000. Our mission is to make social science knowledge on Northern Ireland easily accessible to the widest possible audience. Most of our dissemination is via our website at www.ark.ac.uk, which is divided into four main areas:

• Surveys
• Conflict, Politics and Elections
• Policy, Research and Resources
• Outreach, Dissemination and Training - including publications and events

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