How do I calculate a latent variable using questions with different measurement scales and data types? I want to calculate risk perception using survey responses to questions about risk to health, employment and finances. There are 10 questions in total, 3 with responses on a 5 point Likert scale, 3 with Yes/No, 3 with Yes/Maybe/No and 1 with Yes/No/I don't know. How do I normalize and calculate the risk perception variable?

You could use item response theory (IRT) to scale your latent variable. IRT can accommodate ordinal items with different numbers of response options easily.
