comparing selected items in a drop down box to a string literal

[richard...@adnas.com]

     Is there a way to compare the item selected in a drop down box with a constant. Let's say the user selects a certain  State I want to display a modal about their location.

       var state= myGrid.grid.getDataItem(rowIndex);

       How to I compare those selected grid drop selections of the current selected state with Like "NJ" or "NY"