simple AJAX request

[Chris Johnson]

I am new to couchdb and have been successfully using it with the python 
libs. I am trying to move to JS, which I am new to as well, and having 
some challenges. I know this is a simple question, so please bare with 
me. I am trying to make a simple ajax call to pull data from a view but 
get an error. I have tried with both the full URL and just he view 
information with no luck. What am I missing?

<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">
         $.getJSON("_view/status", function(data) {
            alert("JSON Data: " + data);
          });
</script>