Like so many things that start out one way and eventually turn into something else, public opinion polls were once a good thing. They were a barometer of how people felt about the issues of the day. They were interesting, and that was enough. But now, public opinion polls serve as the basis for (or they at least influence) most public policy decisions.

Of course, this isn’t so much a commentary on opinion polling itself as it is a reflection on the quality of people we allow represent us in government. We now have the “put your finger in the wind” type politicians in the majority - regardless of political party. That’s how it is. The genie is out of the bottle. So what are we to do?

If we can’t count on politicians to take opinion polls with a grain of salt, then our only option is to move opinion polling forward. That’s why we created Informed Opinions.

The next time you see an opinion poll, notice the fine print at the bottom. It will say something like “Poll conducted between November 10-13 with 1000 likely voters. Margin of error +/- 4%.” What it doesn’t tell you is anything about the people being polled. Are they educated? Are they informed? Are they young or old? For years, we’ve wondered what poll results would be like if we could qualify respondents in terms of what they know. And finally, the Internet gives us the ability to do just that.

If you want to be included in our poll results, you need to pass our test. It isn’t hard if you watch the news and have a basic knowledge of history, government, and politics. In fact, many of the questions come directly from the US citizenship test. The idea here is that those who have the knowledge to pass our test constitute an informed group of people, and their opinions on politics have never before been available.

Take our test. Join our cause. Help us reinvent opinion polling. This is QUALIFIED OPINION POLLING. It’s the way it should be.