This question can be traced back to the middle ages during the nominalist and realists debates. I think the common sense answer is society is not really real in the sense a tree is real, society is just collection of individuals. If 2/3 of individuals in a given "society"are drunkards, then it's a drunk society. In my opinion, methodological individualism is the soundest way to base any social inquiry.

Interestingly, the digital age along with it's technologies makes this issue even clearer as these complex interactions can not be reduced by some sociologist made to fit into a round category. People are realizing individuals are fluid and hard to make vast generalizations.