I want to get only one value (varchar2 data type) from a specific record column of a table and store it as a variable to compare. Depending on the value and condition, I am going to call one of two cursors. 

This all will be inside a function. So what's the easiest and shortest way to archive that? And, by the way, can this comparison be done directly without storing the value into a variable?
(I am kinda new in oracle world!)