How many different ways can 4 people be seated around a circular table ?

To find the number of ways to seat 4 people around a circular table, we use the formula for circular permutations. In linear arrangements (like sitting in a row), n distinct items can be arranged in n! ways. However, in circular arrangements, rotations of the same arrangement are considered identical because there is no fixed starting point. Therefore, we fix one person's position to eliminate rotational symmetry and arrange the remaining (n-1) people in the other seats. For 4 people, this means we fix one person and arrange the remaining 3 people in (4-1)! = 3! ways. Thus, there are 6 distinct seating arrangements. Option A (4!) represents linear arrangements where position matters absolutely, which is incorrect here. Option C and D are too small to account for the possible variations.