Arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) phase errors are normally assessed from the Fourier transform of the interference intensity data in the frequency domain method. However it is possible to identify the phases directly from the intensity data if one adopts a trial-and-error method. Since the functional form of the intensity profile is known, the intensities can be calculated theoretically by assuming arbitrary phase errors. Then we decide the phases that give the best fit to the experimental data. We verified this method by a simulation. We calculated the intensities for an artificial AWG which is given arbitrary phases and amplitudes. Then we extracted the phases and amplitudes from the intensity data by using our trial-and-error method. The extracted values are in good agreement with the originally given values. This approach yields better results than the analysis using Fourier transforms.