If you're asking about here, there isn't a method to try and determine a dead position. You would have to reach either a triple repetition of position or 50 moves.
If you mean OTB, a truly dead position, one where there is no way to make any progress (locked pawns, no way to penetrate or sac material, etc), that is a draw, but if there's just a theoretical draw, because play will probably reach a 50 move rule, but mate is still possible by any series of legal moves, then the side with no time will lose if the side with time could possibly win (with worst play by the opponent).
In the FIDE rules, a game is a draw by dead position if checkmate is impossible through any combination of moves. Declaring a draw by the 50 move rule is never explicitly said to be a move, and of course the 75 move rule is automatic. If a game was being drawn out to the latter limit, (say it was move 72/75 for instance) and mate/capture/pawn moves were all impossible within the 75-move limit, would that count as a draw automatically, with the game being position being considered dead because no mate could occur before the game would be forced to end? Similarly, if a player ran out of time OTB in a position where mating (and capturing and pawn movement) would not be possible within the 50 move threshold, could they rightfully claim the game was already drawn because of the fact that a 50-move claim is not itself a 'move', and no mate would be possible before such a claim could have been made? Or does the dead position rule completely ignore both the 50- and 75-move rules and allow infinite moves when determining if a position is dead?