Are you talking about a grounded research?

Do you think they are related.? Maybe by innovation/state of the art. Hypotheses are not clear (speculations?)

One common process for developing a method also includes an empirical demonstration of it how it works in practice.

What is your field? In the fields of my expertise, statistics, mathematics, epidemiology, computer sciences, data science, and biostatistics, it is a potential topic for PhD dissertation.

Thank you all for your responses. Really appreciate your time!!

My specific question was, if the developing of a new method (in my context a Design Method) can be proposed for a PhD study. For instance, can the development of a new method, (a method such as Thematic Analysis for instance) be a PhD topic?

Advance apologies if my questions are vague, I am still feeling around the outlines in the area of research.

David L Morgan I agree that there will have to be an empirical demonstration. So are we likening the 'development of a method' to be equivalent to the developing of a hypotheses.

Babak Jamshidi my field is Industrial Design (or Product Design as commonly known). The method in question is something totally new and ground up. Design Science related research is just gaining momentum out here in India.

No, a Phd is a novel theoretical question, not just a method :)

Andrew Paul McKenzie Pegman Thank you! I am beginning to understand. The inflection has to be in the form of a question, so that it can be proven through research.

Yes :)

I think the definitions of what is required are going to vary dramatically by discipline. What scientists might expect will be different than what engineers would expect which might be different than what designers might expect. But the real answer to your question should be "what do the faculty in my program expect" and the only way to answer that is to ask them directly. This is one of the things your dissertation advisor or committee is supposed to do. So that is the practical answer.

From a philosophical point of view I concur that the point of designing a new method is do solve a problem or do something that could not be done before. So the question should be inherent in why are you wanting to design that method, why is it better than any other methods. And once you have done that, showing that your method actually accomplishes that goal is the demonstration of its validity.