Functionalist analysts have a long history in sociology. Functionalists thought started from Auguste Comte (1798-1857), and Herbert Spencer (1820-1903). It was developed further by Emile Durkeim, Talcott Parsons, refined by R. K. Merton etc. Functionalism views society as a system that is a set of interconnected parts which together form a whole. The basic unit of analysis is society and its various parts are understood primarily in terms of their relationship to the whole. Thus social institutions such as family and religion are analyzed as a part of the social system rather than as isolated units. In a particular, they are understood with reference to the contribution they make to the system as a whole. The basic needs or necessary conditions of existence are called functional prerequisites.