ABSTRACT
The distribution of the population in social groups, and the size, number, and characteristics of such groups, are important features of the structure of a society. The description and classification of the principal types of social groups and institutions’ in Ginsberg’s view, make up the study of social structure.1 In actual research it is difficult, and probably undesirable, to make a rigid distinction between the study of groups and the study of institutions, since the latter (which may be defined as enduring patteras of behaviour) arise from the activities of groups. But for purposes of exposition it is convenient to deal first with the different groupings which may exist in a population.
