I know the thread is old but i thought someone else might find this useful. According to the jquey.com
var bodyContent = $.ajax({
url: "script.php",
global: false,
type: "POST",
data: "name=value",
dataType: "html",
async:false,
success: function(msg){
alert(msg);
}
}).responseText;
would help to get the result to a string directly. Note the .responseText; part.