Is this volitional +とする? For full context: < The sentence in question: " **** " My attempt at translation: "Im afraid to say that concerning hachioji meteorite and the specification, though we cant do it the research group trying to continously try to tackle the elucidation of the true state of hachioji meteorite appeals to the general public for the provision of information if there is a stone like a meteorite in the house." I don't know what to make of this . I read that "volitional+" means "to attempt to", but usually volitional form means the -forms. is also somehow volitional, but I couldnt find anything whether it can act in analogy to form+

How about parsing it this way:

> Sentence 1:
>
> Sentence 2:

In Sentence 2,

Subject = the research group
Verb 1 = say
Verb 2 = appeal

* * *

>

is the desiderative form (-form) of .
is quotative, and (<) means "They say...". This is often used in news reporting.

* * *

> ****

The doesn't mean "and". XXYY means "identify XX as YY", so XXYY()/ means "couldn't identify XX as YY".
"Unfortunately, they couldn't identify it (= the stone) as a Hachioji meteorite, but..."