本研究的研究目的有五項：(1) 對碩士生的生活經驗有所了解，(2) 探究碩士班研究生在研究所就學期間，其人際互動的情形，(3) 探究碩士班生活之壓力來源和壓力帶來之影響，以及研究生對壓力的因應對策，(4) 探究研究所碩士班之經驗對於研究生的影響與意義，及(5) 提供給碩士班在學研究生前人經驗，並使有意進入研究所進修之大學生一窺研究所生活，並提供參考予教育單位，俾便制定相關政策時斟量之。
為完成前述的研究目的，本研究採取質性研究法，以立意抽樣之方式，尋找研究所碩士班畢業二年內之學生進行深入訪談，並用「內容分析法」將資料加以分析，研究之結果如下：

一、 碩士研究生最大的壓力來源與壓力成因有兩項發現：
(一) 碩士生課業的壓力由碩士班學習型態的改變、課程難度與作業量的提高、時間緊迫、研究生完美主義性格以及對研究生身份的體悟所形成。
(二) 課業壓力是研究所生活中最大的壓力源，其中以論文壓力最大；而論 文的壓力源來自「時間緊迫」與「meeting」。
二、 研究生人際互動情形與形成此互動情形之因
(一) 研究生人際互動情形-與同儕的關係最密切
(二) 形成此互動情形之因
1. 造成師生間距離感之因，以既定因素較多，少部分為後天因素。2. 家人難以理解受訪者在學校遇到的困難或心中苦悶。
3. 基於相互理解的同理心，同儕互動較密切。
三、碩士生的人際互動，不但有助紓解其壓力，亦影響了課業之學習。
四、同儕提供精神與實質幫助上的支持，家人提供精神與物質支持；老師提供給學生「訊息與工具支持」，師生間多為課業上之互動。
五、壓力在研究生的生理、心理以及課業等方面都造成了影響，受訪者在壓力之下，以出現心理反應者為最多，如：煩悶、緊張與急躁。
六、受訪者壓力調適的方式可分為「問題解決策略」與「情緒舒緩策略」兩種，而多種「情緒舒緩策略」紓壓方式之核心為「暫離現場」。
七、就讀碩士班最大的收穫便是習得一套「通則」，如：邏輯思考能力、做事與解決問題的方法，以及人際溝通技巧等等。
八、就讀碩士班的意義在於它帶來的實質幫助或影響，這些影響是正面美好的，每個影響之間又互有關聯。
九、受訪者主要的反思與建議
(一) 碩士生活可改進之處：「知識的充實」與「時間管理」二
項。
(二) 給後進的建議：「就讀前之選擇」與「把握時光」二項。
(三) 給學校或教育單位的建議：包含「行政」與「招生」二方面。
十、碩士研究生之生活經驗—從克服困頓的過程中學習與體悟。

The purposes of this study are: (1) To have an understanding towards the lived experiences of graduate students, (2) To discover the graduate students’ interpersonal interactions during the time they studied in graduate schools, (3) To discover the stress sources of graduate lives, the effects stress brought about, and the coping strategies of graduate students, (4) To discover the influences and meanings the graduate studying experiences brought to graduate students, (5) To offer previous graduate students’ experiences to the current students, offer a chance to people who later want to study in graduate schools to take a look at graduate lives and offer references to the educational departments for the purpose of policy making
In order to achieve the purposes listed above, the research adopted “purposive sampling” to search and interview the people who just got a master’s degree within two years and analyzed materials by content analysis. Below are the findings of the research:
(1) There are two findings about stress sources and
stressors:
a. The stress of lessons were brought by the changes of learning styles, the increase of curriculum difficulty and the quantity of school work, the limits of time, graduate students’ characters of perfectionism, and the apprehension of the graduate identity.
b. The most vital stress was academic-related,especially the stress of “finishing the thesis”. The stress of thesis-writing came from “the limits of time” and “the meetings”.
(2) The interpersonal interactions and the causes that resulted in these situations are:
a. The interpersonal interactions of graduate students—
among all the interpersonal relationships, the relationships between peers were the closest one.
b. The causes that resulted in these situations:
(a) The causes that resulted in the interpersonal distance between teachers and students were mostly innate; others were just a minority.
(b) It’s hard for the families to realize the difficulties the subjects encountered and the depression they met at school.
(c) Because of the mutual empathy, the graduate students and their peers interacted more closely.
(3) The peers’interactions not only relieved graduate
students’ stress but also affected their studying positively.
(4) The peers offered spiritual and substantial supports. The families offered spiritual and substantial supports. The teachers offered “information and tool” supports. The interactions between teachers and students were almost academic-related.
(5) The stress resulted in the effects on physical,mental, and studying sides.The most common symptoms the subjects with stress showed were mental ones, such as feeling down, being nervous and upset.
(6) The subjects’stress adjustment strategies can be classified as“problem-solving strategy” and“emotion-relieving strategy”. The core of many emotion-relieving strategies was“escaping from the spots”.
(7) The primary gains of studying in graduate schools were acquiring a general principal such as logical thinking ability, the ability of managing an affair, and the skill of interpersonal communication.
(8) The meaning of studying in graduate schools lies in the practical help or influences. These influences were positive and every influence was correlated with each other.
(9) The subjects’ primary reflections and suggestions are: a. The flaws of graduate lives:“knowledge absorbing”and“time management”.
b. The suggestions for juniors:“the selection before going to graduate schools”and“cherish the time”.
c. The suggestions for schools or educational departments: including“administration”and“student recruiting” two sides.
(10) The lived experiences of graduate students: learning, apprehending, and realizing from the process of overcoming barriers.

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