function getHTTPObject(){
   if (window.ActiveXObject) return new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
   else if (window.XMLHttpRequest) return new XMLHttpRequest();
   else {
	  alert("Your browser does not support AJAX.");
	  return null;
   }
}

// Change the value of the outputText field
function setOutput(){
	if(httpObject.readyState == 4){
		document.getElementById('outputText').value = httpObject.responseText;
	}

}


function checkException()
{

	httpObject = getHTTPObject();
	if (httpObject != null)
	{
		httpObject.open("GET", "reports.php?exceptions="
						+document.getElementById('exceptionsID').value+"&date1=" + document.getElementById('date1').value, true);
		httpObject.send(null);
		httpObject.onreadystatechange = setOutput;
	}
}

var httpObject = null;

// Change the value of the outputText field
function setOutput(){
        if(httpObject.readyState == 4){
                document.getElementById('outputText').innerHTML= httpObject.responseText;
        }

}

// Change the value of the outputText field
function setOutput(){
        if(httpObject.readyState == 4){
                document.getElementById('outputText').innerHTML= httpObject.responseText;
        }

}

function setOutput() {
   if(httpObject.readyState == 4) {
       document.getElementById('outputText').innerText = httpObject.responseText;
   }
}

<span id="outputText">Some default text here</span>