124 Int. J. Teaching and Case Studies, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2015 Copyright © 2015 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Theory development in the public relations research domain Nicholas Nicoli* and Marcos Komodromos Department of Communications, School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, University of Nicosia, 46 Makedonitissis Str., 1700 Egkomi, Cyprus Email: nicoli.n@unic.ac.cy Email: m.komodromos@gmail.com *Corresponding author Abstract: Public relations are now seen by many as a mature field of study. One reason why the field has managed to establish itself as a discipline is on account of the development of its own unique body of theoretical knowledge. The inception of this knowledge is based around an understanding of the excellence theory and James Grunig’s four-step model. With Grunigian public relations theory now over 20 years old this paper seeks to deconstruct the theory as well as other theories that have enabled practitioners to establish sound strategic approaches and PR educators to establish sustainable curricula. The paper is divided into two sections. In the first, it draws on overarching social science theories in order to offer a descriptive analysis of what theory is. The second larger section is divided into four parts that attempt to offer where public relations stands in a postmodern context before offering a historiography and analysis of excellence theory, persuasion theories and media theories. Keywords: communication theory; excellence theory; Grunigian; media theory; persuasion; public relations; strategic public relations; public relations practitioners. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Nicoli, N. and Komodromos, M. (2015) ‘Theory development in the public relations research domain’, Int. J. Teaching and Case Studies, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp.124–139. Biographical notes: Nicholas Nicoli is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communications at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus. He is a coordinator of the Public Relations, Advertising and Marketing BA Program. He is a Charter Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Approved Trainer and a member of the European Media Management Association (EMMA), the European Sociological Association (ESA), the International Association for Media and Communication (IAMCR), the Re-Visionary Interpretations of the Public Enterprise (RIPE), and the Institute of Mass Media and Communications, Cyprus (IMME). He is also a certified facilitator of the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program, a TEDx curator and an organiser of Startup Weekend, Cyprus. Marcos Komodromos is Assistant Professor and Lecturer in the Department of Communications at the University of Nicosia’s. He is an Accredited Charter Instructor of Public Relations in Cyprus, Greece and Romania. He has worked in the field of internal communication, corporate communication and crisis management in both Cyprus and Greece. He acts as a business consultant for a range of organisations in Cyprus and abroad. He has more than 12 years