The phrase "set out to clarify" is correct and usable in written English.
It is used to indicate intention to resolve a misunderstanding or confusion. For example: She set out to clarify why the project had been delayed.
Some of the research set out to clarify how exactly that decision-making differed.
So when I came on board, we immediately set out to clarify who decided what and at what level.
For myself, it is one of those cases where the ex planation is more of a hard ship than the problem it set out to clarify.
In 2003, the Bush administration set out to "clarify" the law, revising income-level tests in various job categories (above them you are a salaried manager and don't get overtime, below them you are not a manager and you do) and specifying that more than half a manager's time actually has to be spent managing.
In Content and Object, Twardowski set out to clarify exactly the relationship between the two, with far-reaching implications for Brentano's original position.
The paper set out to clarify whether male adolescents are again at a disadvantage compared to female adolescents in the transition from school to vocational education and training due to their educational deficits or it is possible for them to compensate for this.
This Article sets out to clarify both the costs and benefits of randomness, arguing that there can be valid reasons to depart from it.
This experiment sets out to clarify whether medical professionals perceive our human-in-the-loop approach as appropriate and helpful in quantitative terms and in a qualitative assessment.
Hume sets out to clarify what we can best be understood to mean when we talk about liberty and necessity, and to show that so understood, there is no conflict between them.
The work reported here sets out to clarify the ontogenetic basis of sexual variation in the human face and considers the functional, developmental and behavioural factors that may explain non-size-related facial distinctions in men and women.
In commenting on an Article by Professor Stephen Perry, this piece first sets out to clarify the concepts of "harm" and "injury" as used in tort law.
