Set option value with getElementsByName()

Question

Having this fieldset:

<fieldset>
    <legend>[*death]</legend>
    <select name=death  style="width: 120px">
        <option value=Dead>[*died]
        <option value=NotDead>[*alive]
        <option value="" selected>-
    </select>
</fieldset>

i want to set the [2].value to "-".

i have tried without any success:

document.getElementsByName('death')[2].checked = 'true';
document.getElementsByName('death')[2].value = '-';  

Same kind of code works fine for radio boxes, checked boxes or other inputs in the form. How to do it with the option select (which is not an input)?

Thanks

[EDIT] of course, appropriate fieldset is:

<fieldset>
  <legend>[*death]</legend>
    <select name="death"  style="width: 120px">
      <option value="Dead">[*died]</option>
      <option value="NotDead">[*alive]</option>
      <option value="" selected>-</option>
    </select>
</fieldset>

thanks.

Answer 1

It's a little bit unclear what you're asking. Are you simply asking to make the option at index 2 selected?

document.getElementsByName('death')[0].selectedIndex = 2;

Or, are you asking to change the value of option at index 2?

var d = document.getElementsByName('death')[0];
d.options[2].value = '-';