Datatables add select options dropdown and checkbox with row.add

I see examples fitting my need for dropdown selects and checkboxes such as this one here however they all assume we have the html to fiddle with.

In my case instead I have an empty table I populate with the following JQuery:

for (i = 0; i < contactDataLength; i++) 
{
                currentRow = contactTable.row.add([
                    contactDataArr[i].CONTACT_VAL1,
                    contactDataArr[i].CONTACT_VAL2,
                    contactDataArr[i].CONTACT_NOTES,
                    '<input type="checkbox" name="delete" value="">'
                ]).draw();
}

in this example I add a column as a checkbox input, however this is the wrong way to do it.

How do I add checkboxes and selects programatically??