Electroweak radiative corrections with an effective lagrangian: Four-fermions processes

We present a new, more concise method for computing and organizing electroweak radiative corrections, based on an effective lagrangian and incorporating a large class of diagrams into a few simple running couplings without use of truncated renormalization group approximations. We apply this technique to the case of four-fermion processes. Special emphasis is placed on the effects of heavy particles on low-energy physics and how such phenomena can be classified and measured in the new generation of precision electroweak experiments - in particular, experiments with polarized e ^- beams at the SLC and LEP.