We report on the growth and structure of Ag(001)/Fe(001) superlattices studied in situ by reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and ex situ by Rutherford backscattering and channeling spectroscopy (RBS/C), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). These complementary characterization methods have been compared and applied to a detailed investigation of the epitaxial quality and the interface roughness. The apparent inconsistency in the results is explained by the difference in length scale probed by the four characterization techniques.