JQuery: Set selected dropdownvalue by text

$("#IDofDDList option:contains(" + theText + ")").attr('selected', 'selected');

Fixing Overlaying Layers with Dropdown

Note: This problem only appears in IE 6 and below.

When an absolutely positioned layer (div) is overlaid with a dropdown or some ActiveX component, the Z-index style sheet property does not work and the layer shows under such objects.

Reference: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/HTML/dropdown_div.aspx

Alexander Kleshchevnikov offers 3 great methods in his writeup to solve this problem. I've only tried out Method 2 and it works.