In the course of this thesis I present an experimental investigation into various strongly correlated transition metal and rare earth compounds using core-level spectroscopic techniques, which have augmented the understanding of the electronic properties of these different systems. I will discuss the orbital occupation and the symmetry of the states near the Fermi level, responsible for the variety of ground states shown by a variety of strongly correlated systems such as misfit cobaltates, strontium ruthenates, metallic manganese and rare earth compounds.
