I have been asked to address the importance of groups as they relate to the study of sociology.

Sociology is the study of human development within a
society. To that end, it is important to understand that groups contribute many of the
ideas that sociologists analyze. For example, a society is made up of various cultures
within a defined populous. Culture is pervasive and widespread throughout all of
sociology. But on its most basic level, culture is defined by groups of people creating
living norms and standards that are acceptable by the group as representative of their
status quo. 

More plainly stated, sociologists do not study
individual behaviors inside of a vacuum. Instead, sociologists study human interactions,
processes and cultural parameters to understand the society as a whole. They can then
formulate ideas about the human condition based on how groups feed off of each other,and
everyone outside of their group. So, without groups, there would be no fundamental
understanding of a society at all, because there would be no understanding of what is
considered acceptable, unacceptable, successful, outlier, or other. Groups also help
individuals to form an identity. Again, the group creates an understanding of the world
from which to base development.