Topic:
To understand the most important characteristics of a society, one must study its major cities.

  Characteristics of a society depends on the people living in the society restricting them to one single boundary of city is fallacious argument. The city is a closed boundary where people from many different places come for say a good career, in search of a  job opportunity etc. Thus they might belong to different cultures and studying them to determine the characteristic of the whole society is wrong.
  For example, city of Paris has nowadays become a city of designers. Designers from various parts of the world settle there for a career in design. Thus this studying this city for the characteristics of French society is incorrect. Also, there could have been inter race marriages that could have lead to a mixed social culture leading to a mixed society. This is the case with most major cities of the world and not just Paris alone. 
  However, studying the country side of the country such as villages would rather give a result characterizing the society as a whole. Cities are places of economic and political centers where as these villages were remained untouched as cultural centers. For example, in the country side of India the cultural bonding between the people is very high that in case of any dispute the society comes together to solve it. Thus studying country side would rather be a solution to study the characteristics of a society.
  In ancient times the cities were isolated. Most civilians were born and brought up in the same city. Thus study of ancient cities that are in excavation for drawing the characteristics of the people would be appropriate.
  Thus the study on modern cities for the most important characteristic of a society would be fallacious, but for the study of ancient cities and villages the for finding the most interesting characteristics will be apposite.

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