CODE EXAMPLE FOR JAVASCRIPT

get the value or text from select element using javaScript

<select id="ddlViewBy">
  <option value="1">test1</option>
  <option value="2" selected="selected">test2</option>
  <option value="3">test3</option>
</select>
Running this code:

var e = document.getElementById("ddlViewBy");
var strUser = e.value;
Would make strUser be 2. If what you actually want is test2, then do this:

var e = document.getElementById("ddlViewBy");
var strUser = e.options[e.selectedIndex].text;