  We study star formation in a sample of 1204 galaxies in minor (| \Delta m_z |
\geq 2) pairs and compact groups, drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data
Release 5 (SDSS DR5). We analyze an analogous sample of 2409 galaxies in major
(| \Delta m_z | < 2$) pairs and compact groups to ensure that our selection
reproduces previous results, and we use a ``field'' sample of 65,570 galaxies
for comparison. Our major and minor pairs samples include only galaxies in
spectroscopically confirmed pairs, where the recessional velocity separation
$\Delta V < 500$ km/s and the projected spatial separation $\Delta D < 50$
kpc/h. The relative magnitude (a proxy for the mass ratio) of the pair is an
important parameter in the effectiveness of the tidally triggered star
formation in minor interactions. As expected, the secondary galaxies in minor
pairs show evidence for tidally triggered star formation, whereas the primary
galaxies in the minor pairs do not. The galaxy color is also an important
parameter in the effectiveness of triggered star formation in the major galaxy
pairs. In the major pairs sample, there is a correlation between the specific
H$\alpha$ star formation rate (SSFR) and $\Delta D$ in the blue primary and
blue secondary galaxies; for the red primary and red secondary galaxies, there
is none. Galaxies in pairs have a higher mean SSFR at every absolute magnitude
compared to matched sets of field galaxies, and the relative increase in mean
SSFR becomes larger with decreasing intrinsic luminosity. We also detect a
significantly increased AGN fraction in the pair galaxies compared to matched
sets of field galaxies.
