Should a static method be used when implementing the Singleton pattern?

Yes, when implementing the Singleton pattern in Java, a static method is usually used to obtain the single instance of the class. This is because a static method allows controlling the creation of the object and guarantees that the instance will be created only once.

A classic implementation of Singleton using a static method and lazy initialization:

public class Singleton {
    private static Singleton instance;

    private Singleton() {
        // private constructor
    }

    public static synchronized Singleton getInstance() {
        if (instance == null) {
            instance = new Singleton();
        }
        return instance;
    }
}

Here, getInstance() is a static method that returns the only instance of the class. Using a static method is convenient because it does not require creating an object to call it and provides a global access point.