Amongst other things, recent Tripos papers have required students to examine changing patterns of family life in Britain, the effect of unemployment on the individual, the basis of racial prejudice, the role of Trade Unions and Management in modern industry, the activities of religious pressure groups in politics in the USA, the impact of globalisation on contemporary societies, and the social and economic impact of information technology on industrialised societies. The perspectives which students are offered are drawn from Politics, Sociology and Psychology. While most students specialise in one of these disciplines in their second and third years, they are encouraged to recognise that human societies are not structured in line with academic disciplines, and that an inter-disciplinary approach is essential for an adequate understanding of human social life. Consequently, students who have read SPS in Cambridge develop a more sophisticated understanding of these issues than can be gained from a narrow degree which offers only one of these disciplines. Part IIB consists of three more advanced optional papers from a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary choices.
Options change from year to year but the range is broad.
It is also possible to combine either Part I or Part II with Part I or Part II of another Tripos. The SPS Tripos has close links to a number of neighbouring disciplines such as Anthropology, Economics, History and Philosophy. Apart from the University's reputation in these subjects, the Department includes many scholars of international renown, and has established a distinguished record of research and teaching. It is these staff members who provide the University lectures in SPS, while the Colleges provide personal supervision on an individual or small group basis. Quite often this supervision will be with the lecturing staff, particularly if the Lecturer is in the same College as the student.