社会科学研究的一个问题是忽略社会系统与自然系统的本体论差异,由此导致了客观主义本体论预设：社会现实是“注定如此”的。这一决定论立场受到人本主义学者的挑战。他们认为社会现实“本来可以是其他样子”,因为它是基于人们的意义而形成的,而意义是基于特定情境而建构出来的,具有随机性。基于这种社会建构论的本体论,学者们采用了质性研究方法。然而,尽管质性研究有助于克服社会决定论,但对于如何把微观分析和宏观分析结合起来的方法论基础的讨论较为薄弱。自戈夫曼在1974年提出框架分析并被学者广泛应用后,这一情形有望得到改变。文章对框架分析的本体论基础（设框作为社会建构过程）以及方法论意义（框架分析把微观分析和宏观分析勾连起来的方法论基础）进行了论述。

One of challenges in social sciences is the differences between the social system and the nature. However, there used to be a tendency to ignore the differences and hence to assume the position of determinism in social sciences. This position is opposed by some humanists in social sciences, who adopt qualitative research strategies in social sciences in order to deal with the issue of meanings in the social construction of reality. But one of difficulties in qualitative research is that how micro issues are related to macro ones. The method of frame analysis invented by Goffman (1974), paves the way to overcoming this difficulty. This paper analyses the reasons why frame analysis can effectively relate the micro to the macro from both ontological and methodological perspective.