The nucleus is a mesoscopic system that retains features from both the quantum and macroscopic worlds. A basic property of a macroscopic body is its shape. Nuclear shapes can be deduced from experimental data as they influence the excitation mode of the nucleus and hence the energies and lifetimes of its excited levels. Various short-lived nuclei were created in fusion-evaporation experiments performed at international heavy-ion accelerator facilities. The emitted γ rays and, in some experiments, also the charged particles and neutrons emitted in the reactions were detected. The studied neutron-deficient isotopes were either selected by the type and number of particles emitted in the reactions, or by using their characteristic decays. The excited states of the different isotopes were extracted from the γ-ray analyses. Spectroscopic properties, such as the lifetimes of the excited states or the angular distribution of the emitted γ rays were measured when possible. The experimentally obtained level schemes together with the other spectroscopic information were used to deduce the excitation modes and the shapes of the studied nuclei. The detector systems are described in the first chapter and in the second chapter some techniques used to extract information from the experimental data are explained. Finally, a brief theoretical overview on the nuclear models which were used to interpret the experimental results is given.