Although stickers are inexpensive and usually used only one time, kids absolutely love them. Banks, hospitals, teachers and even grocery stores give stickers out to children. Stickers have a variety of uses. Children and adults alike can put stickers just about anywhere. Stickers can be seen on notebooks, clothes, books, pianos, etc. Stickers come in many varieties. Not only are there many themes (nature, cars, educational, rock bands) but they  also come in many shapes, sizes, and kinds (3D, scented, fuzzy, etc). Children enjoy many cartoon stickers likes ones with Dora the Explorer on them. Teenagers enjoy stickers with people like Kayne West on them. Stickers can even be used for safety purposes, like Mr. Yuck, a sticker warning children of poisonous substances. Whatever the age, there is a sticker to accommodate a person. Given the inexpensive cost of stickers, it should come as little surprise that teachers would choose them as a way to award children for excellent work. (http://ezinearticles.com/?Stickers-Are-Still-One-Of-The-Most-Popular-Things-With-Kids&id=351265)

    Stickers have been handed out so freely by some teachers, that the worth of stickers has been questioned. Some students have not "earned" the stickers they have been given. The value of a sticker, in a child's mind, may be lessened if there was no hard work that went into getting the sticker. Some students question whether teachers are being sincere when they give their pupils a sticker for doing a "good job". (http://www.brighthub.com/education/early-childhood/articles/64049.aspx)

    A study was done in four schools in Manchester to see what four-year-old students thought of this sticker system. Many of the students in the study enjoyed competing for stickers rather than stickers being handed to them. When all students were given stickers, the students were confused as to why they were given them. Alan McLean, an educational psychologist, said giving students stickers and candy reduced their sense of pride and satisfaction. A ten-year-old student was irritated at getting a sticker every time he did something well. It was considered a lowering of teacher's expectations for students. Teachers did not expect students to do well, but rather, awarded them if they did. One five-year-old commented on her teachers excessive sticker awards by saying, "What's the point of doing anything if you're praised for just sitting?" Karen Brookes, a teacher at St Andrew's Church of England Primary, said that "young children are very motivated by stickers but it is important that praise and rewards have value and are special.... at one time, children were getting stickers for completing work, they were almost handed out without anything being said. Now the piece of work has to be a really good standard for that child and when they are rewarded they get verbal feedback." Stickers, given out properly, not only increase a child's work ethic and behavior, but it also makes them feel more accomplished. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/primaryeducation/6209938/School-pupils-praised-too-much-says-research.html)

      We came up with this idea to research because one day it occurred to us how much we enjoyed stickers. We wanted to know if we were the only three students in our school who really enjoy them. Our chemistry teacher uses stickers on all of her A papers and we were curious to know whether other teachers used them as well. Thus, after much thought and many different ideas about our survey question, we all remembered how much we liked stickers. Therefore, we came to a conclusion during our statistics class on making our survey about stickers, to see if other students enjoy stickers as much as we do. Our study will investigate the proportions of both high school and middle school teachers who use stickers in addition to the proportions of students at both schools who like stickers.