This thesis is concerned with the experimental stress analysis of the stepped coupled shear wall subjected to lateral uniform loads using two dimensional photoelastic technique as the method of ana]ysis. The stepped coupledshear walls are assumed to be having one-level variationof the cross sectional area of wall piers along the height and resting on rigid foundations.A test program involving sixteen stepped coupledshear wall models js formulated to examine the effect of (i) irregularity, as denoted by the ratio of the cross sectional area of wall piers in the upper segment to that in the lower segment, and (ii) coupling, as denoted by the rigidity of the connecting beams. The significant response parameters of interest are (i) shear forces in connecting beams, ii) distribution of normal and shear <stress components along the height particularly at base and level of variation, and (iii) lateral deflection. The experimental setup is described and the photoelastic raw test data are obtained. The photoelastic braw test data include complete patterns of isochromatic and isoclinic fringes. The shear difference method is applied to the photoe las tic raw test data to obta in the.