Final answer:
Durkheim believed that social facts serve important functions within society, such as protecting society from violence and preserving public health.
Step-by-step explanation:
Durkheim believed that individuals may make up society, but to study society, sociologists have to look beyond individuals to social facts.
Social facts are the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life (Durkheim 1895). Each of these social facts serves one or more functions within a society.
For example, one function of a society's laws may be to protect society from violence, while another is to punish criminal behavior, while another is to preserve public health.