  This paper addresses the long standing question of discordant redshifts in
compact groups. We have used an homogenous catalogue of 173 compact groups
selected by an automated procedure to objectively predict the fraction of
discordant redshifts with high statistical accuracy, and then applied these
results to the sample of 92 compact groups in Hickson's revised catalogue. Our
results confirm that projection effects alone can account for the high
incidence of discordant redshifts in compact groups. We have also examined the
spatial distribution of discordant galaxies in Hickson's compact groups.
Contrary to previous studies, we find that there is no evidence for central
concentration of discordant galaxies.
