Final answer:
American Airlines in-flight surveys primarily provide qualitative measurements from passengers that include subjective, detailed feedback. Surveys can also collect quantitative discrete and quantitative continuous data. Valid measurements accurately reflect the topic of study, and systematic sampling involves fixed intervals for sample selection.
Step-by-step explanation:
American Airlines conducts ongoing in-flight surveys to assess various aspects of the travel experience, providing feedback on qualitative measurements. These surveys involve open questions that allow passengers to provide detailed written feedback that reflects their personal experiences and opinions. This type of information is subjective, varies from person to person, and is categorized as qualitative data. Qualitative data are results that are based on what is seen in a natural setting and are harder to organize and tabulate because they come in many forms rather than numerical values.
In addition to qualitative data, surveys can also capture quantitative discrete data, such as the number of times per week an individual engages in an activity, or quantitative continuous data, such as the duration of time spent on an activity. The quantitative discrete data consist of countable numbers, whereas quantitative continuous data involve measurements that can have any value within a range.
Furthermore, a measurement is considered valid if it accurately reflects the topic of the study. Systematic sampling, as described in the provided information, is a method where a sample is drawn according to a fixed interval, such as every eighth house around a park. Lastly, factors like the duration of residents' park visits or the interest rate charged on financial aid would fall under quantitative continuous data because they can be measured on a spectrum without discrete breaks.