i have further altered the ajax_search function and i get the error message
function ajax_search() {
var search_word=$("#searchTerm").val();
var dataString = 'search_word='+ search_word;
alert("ajax search this "+dataString);
$.ajax({
type:"GET",
url:"list.php",
data: dataString,
dataType:"html",
success:ok,
error:err
});
}
function ok(){
alert('ok');
$('#content').html(data);
}
function err(){
alert('something went wrong');
}

