CHES (Certified Health Education Specialist) Practice Exam 2025 – Your All-in-One Guide to Exam Success!

Tertiary data sources are publications that compile, summarize, or synthesize information from both primary and secondary sources. They often provide a broader overview of a subject, which can include references to original research (primary sources) and reviews or summaries (secondary sources). Examples of tertiary sources include encyclopedias, textbooks, and systematic reviews, as these resources not only reference original studies but also bring together comprehensive insights, making them valuable for obtaining a general understanding of a topic.

Primary data sources present original data collected through direct methods such as surveys or experiments, and secondary data sources analyze or interpret that original data. Research articles can belong to either primary or secondary categories, depending on whether they report fresh findings or evaluate existing studies. However, they do not encapsulate the broader synthesis of multiple data sources in the way that tertiary sources do. This distinction highlights why the most suitable answer to the question pertains to tertiary data sources.